Forsaken Memories
by junodog
Summary: Edward and Alphonse regain their bodies, but they no longer recall the past five years of their lives. They decide to leave Resembool to find a way to regain their memories. Mangabased.
1. Return to Nothing

Uh, yeah, so if you've read one of my other stories, called "Separated," this is the sequel to that. I'm putting it as a separate story because I consider "Separated" a finished piece, and you don't necessarily have to read that story to understand this one. All you need to know is that Ed and Al regained their bodies, but Ed's shoulder and leg are both very scarred.

The other important fact is that Ed and Al gave up their memories in order to get out of the military without too many problems. If you've read the manga up to the most recent releases in Japan, then you'll know which problem I'm talking about. Oh yeah, and that means there's going to be spoilers for the manga.

So basically, Ed and Al are like their 10 and 11-year-old selves, only they're in their 15 and 16-year-old bodies. They're being sent home after being released or whatever from the military, and that's where this story begins.

And no, the organization from "Separated" won't be showing up in this. It may be mentioned, but I don't intend on using the characters from it, since… yeah… that'd be a little difficult…

Oh, and you should read "Separated" too, because it's good times, and this may make a tad more sense if you read it first. Of course, if you don't read it, you'll be discovering things at the same pace as Ed and Al, and that might be fun, right? Right? Hello?

Wow, this is the longest introduction for any story I've written. Anyhow, here goes: Forsaken Memories.

--------------

Ed sat on the train with his brother, watching the trees and fields rush by. Someone from the military was sitting in the seat across from them. He didn't look familiar, but then again, nobody they had met since waking up in Central had looked familiar. Ed sighed. The black-haired man who had greeted him that first day had been really nice. He constantly found himself wishing he remembered who he was now.

Al seemed to share his feelings, but he didn't say anything. He just looked at the ceiling, staring at something Ed didn't see. The trip continued in silence.

After a while, the soldier left the small compartment they were riding in. Al finally turned to his brother. "Hey, Ed?"

"Yeah?"

"Why do you think we forgot everything?"

Ed shifted so that he was facing his brother, and put his feet up on the seat. He was still a little concerned about how his leg looked. He must have something really bad to make it look like that. "I don't know. I mean, if it were just one of us, there'd probably be a good explanation, but with both of us like this, I… I just don't know."

"Maybe it has something to do with us getting our bodies. That Mustang guy did say we'd just now gotten them back."

"But how do we know we lost them in the first place? The military could just be lying to us to make us forget about human transmutation."

"We could ask Winry."

"She might be in on it too."

"But brother, what about your leg? And your shoulder? It looks like it was just sewn back on or something. And besides, I don't remember being this skinny. If my body was gone for so long, wouldn't it make sense that it wasn't getting any nutrition either?"

Ed closed his eyes. "I don't know anymore, Al. This is just too much for me to handle."

Al sighed. "Same here. I just want to go home and see Winry. I wonder what she's like now."

"Probably as obnoxious as ever," Ed muttered. Al laughed. The train kept moving, getting closer and closer to Resembool Station.

--------------

When they got off, Ed saw Pinako waiting for them. The soldier said his farewell to the two boys and boarded the train again. The three began walking through Resembool to the Rockbell home.

"I heard from Colonel Mustang. You really don't remember anything that happened in the past five years?"

The two brothers shook their heads. "No."

"That really is too bad. Winy will be disappointed."

"What, she doesn't know?"

"No, I haven't called her yet. Oh," Pinako continued, seeing the confused looks on the boys' faces. "She's in Rush Valley now. Training to become a better automail mechanic. Although," Pinako said as she looked at Ed's right arm. "I don't think she'll stay much longer."

"What do you mean?" Ed asked.

"Oh, nothing."

When they finally arrived at the Rockbell house, Ed paused. "Why can't we go to our house?"

Pinako sighed. "You really don't remember, do you?"

"Remember what?"

"Come on. You're going to have to see it eventually. Might as well go now."

Ed and Al exchanged glances. Something about Pinako's tone worried them. What had happened to their house?

They walked down the road towards the house. Ed's eyes narrowed as he tried to make sense of what he was seeing. Their house wasn't there. The tree was still there, but it was bereft of leaves. Soon he realized it had been burned.

They finally arrived at the pile of rubble. Ed stared in horror as he realized what had happened. Their house was gone.

"What… how did this happen?" Ed asked numbly as Al began walking through the rubble.

"You did this."

"Why? Why would I do something like this?"

"Back then, nobody had any idea of whether you'd succeed in getting your bodies back. You did this so that you wouldn't turn back or give up."

Ed fell to his knees. "But, we're back now. What are we supposed to do from here? Where are we supposed to live?"

Pinako sighed and turned around. "It's obvious if you think about it. Come back whenever you're ready."

Ed continued to sit on the ground, staring at the charred remains of his childhood. He was having troubles thinking straight. Ever since waking up in Central, the idea that Mustang had given him, that he and his brother had indeed lost their bodies in a botched transmutation, seemed more and more a reality.

Al thought the same thing. After a few minutes, he turned to his brother. "This… this is really proof, isn't it? I mean, they wouldn't burn our house down just to prove a point, right?"

"Yeah," Ed agreed. "But there's still something off about this."

"I know. What if…"

"What if what?"

Al paused. "What if someone made us forget all that on purpose?"

Ed looked at his brother for a moment before laughing. "Yeah, right."

Al laughed too. "Yeah, there's no way someone could do that. Let's go back now. I'm hungry."

---------------

As they walked back, Ed noticed a slight pain in his shoulder. He figured it was nothing and continued walking. Back at the house, Pinako was waiting for them with dinner ready. "I called Winry. She's going to take a long break from her job and come back for a while."

"Her job?" Ed asked.

"Didn't I already say this, Ed? She's been training in Rush Valley."

"Oh."

Ed's shoulder still hurt two days later, so he decided to ask Pinako about it. She had him sit down in the living room and take his shirt off. Ed sat patiently as she checked his arm. After a bit, she pulled out a magnet and placed it on his shoulder. Ed was surprised to see it stick.

"I suspected as much. There's still a part of the automail inside your body."

Al walked into the room with a bowl of ice cream. He walked up to Ed and put his spoon on Ed's back.

"What are you doing, Al?"

"I dunno. I just wanted to see if the metal in you was magnetic." Al let go of the spoon, which stuck to Ed's back. For a moment, there was an awkward silence.

"Whoa…" Ed said, looking at the spoon.

"You're magnetic!" Al said with a laugh.

"That can't be good," Pinako muttered as she poked the spoon. Ed could tell she was trying not to laugh. He yanked the spoon off and threw it at Al.

"Stop it with the spoons, okay, Al?"

But Al didn't stop. He spent the rest of the night tossing bits of metal (thankfully not sharp) at his brother, and cheered when one stuck. Eventually Ed got sick of dealing with it and went to bed.

--------------

The next day, Winry finally got to Resembool. She walked slowly up to her home, wondering just what to expect. What were Ed and Al like now that they didn't remember anything that had happened? She sighed as she walked up to her house. Ed and Al were sitting on the stairs. They looked up as Winry approached.

Despite what she had been told, Winry couldn't help tearing up at the sight of Ed's right arm. She dropped her bag and hugged him as he stood up. She felt tears streaming down her face.

"Uh, Winry?" Ed asked, seeming very confused. "What's wrong?"

"You did it. You didn't break your promise."

Ed broke away after a moment. "What promise?" he asked.

Winry looked at Ed in confusion. "Oh, that's right, you don't remember…"

"Remember what? What did I promise?"

Winry smiled. "It doesn't matter now. You kept your promise, and now everything's fine."

"Except we don't remember anything that happened in the past five years. That's a little bit of a problem."

Winry picked up her bag and walked to the door. "Well, I'm sure there's some way for you to remember it."

"And guess what, Winry!" Al said with some excitement, pulling a spoon out of his pocket. Ed groaned.

"What, Ed's afraid of spoons now?"

"NO!" Ed practically shouted. Al laughed evilly.

"Even better," he said, putting the spoon on Ed's back. "Brother's a magnet!"

Winry laughed as Ed tried to pull the spoon off of his back. "That's… interesting… Oh, come on, Ed, you have to admit it's funny."

"Yeah, for you, maybe," Ed muttered as he grabbed the spoon. "You don't have to deal with Al throwing stuff at you every five seconds." Ed threw the spoon at Al, who easily caught it and stuck it back in his pocket.

"So, what are you going to do now?" Winry asked as she brought her bag up to her room. Ed shrugged.

"No idea. I want to see if I can find the reason for why we forgot everything, but I don't know where to look…"

"We could probably start by visiting that Mustang guy," Al said.

Winry sighed. "You guys… Do you really want to go back to the military?"

"What? It's not like we'll be joining or anything," Ed said.

"But still, back then…" Winry paused. "You guys were in a lot of danger. I don't want to see you get hurt."

Ed sighed. "Well, it'll be different now, won't it? I mean, since we don't remember anything…"

"Ed, please. You're back to normal now, so why do you need to push yourself?"

Al stepped forward. "Winry, we don't remember anything. Everything's changed around us and we don't know about any of it. Sure, it isn't that big of a problem right now, but what about later? What if we forgot something really important?"

Winry stared at Al. His eyes were very serious. She sighed. "I guess I can't stop you from doing this, huh? Oh well," she said. "I have a month off, so why don't we go to Central? Maybe Colonel Mustang will have an idea."

Ed and Al exchanged glances. "Wow, you're being nice," Ed said. Winry picked up a wrench from a workbench and placed it on Ed's chest, right next to his arm.

"It'll be nice having a magnet around. It's pretty strong, too. I wonder if that'll mess up your body at all."

Ed shrugged. "Well, it's pretty annoying at the moment."

----------

Tee hee. Ed is now Magna-Ed (credit goes to Jimmy for that one, if you ever read this, Jimmy. waves)


	2. Hope?

Ah, yes, I finally got around to putting up part two… Just as a warning, there's something in here that I may end up changing, due to its… potential plotholeness… but I may just ignore it and hope that you can ignore it too… or maybe I'm just being paranoid… either way, here ya go.

---------------

The next day, the three boarded a train for Central. Ed spent most of the ride pulling metal objects off his arm, eventually realizing it was a lost cause. Halfway through, he noticed that his arm was stuck to the metal windowsill. Al laughed as Ed tried to pull himself off.

"Hey, Al, can we switch places? I'm not a big fan of this whole magnet thing."

"Sure," Al replied as he stood up. Just then, someone walked up to the three. He was a huge man with a twirly lock of hair on his head. Ed swore he saw sparkles floating around.

"Elric brothers! It's good to see you!" he said, crushing Al in a hug. Ed and Winry stood up at the same time. Winry had to put all her effort into preventing Ed from attacking the man.

"Hi, Major Armstrong!" she said as he let go of Al. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, just coming back from a trip to East City. How are you three?"

Winry moved her bag to make room for Armstrong to sit next to her. "Not too bad, but you heard what happened, right?"

Armstrong looked at Winry in confusion. "No, I haven't heard anything."

Ed and Al both looked away as Winry spoke again. "Well, they sort of lost their memories. They don't remember anything that happened in the past five years."

"Nothing?"

Ed shook his head. "No."

"Sorry. If I had known, I would certainly have approached you differently."

"Yeah, right," Winry muttered under her breath. Al seemed to be the only one to hear that, because he shot her a confused look. Winry shrugged it off and looked out the window. They were almost to Central.

----------------

"Where are you going from here?" Armstrong asked as they got off the train.

"We're trying to see if we can find a way to retrieve our memories. Brother thought it might be a good idea to ask Colonel Mustang."

Armstrong stopped walking. "You have to be careful. Don't approach him when he's working."

"Huh? Why not?"

"It would be troublesome for him."

Ed looked confused. "Then how can we talk to him?"

"Do you know which hotel you'll be staying at?"

The three exchanged glances. Finally, Winry spoke up. "Yeah, it's this one," she said, handing Armstrong a piece of paper. Armstrong looked at it and gave it back to Winry.

"I'll tell him you're staying there. In the meantime, don't do anything suspicious."

Armstrong walked off, leaving the brothers fairly confused.

-----------------

Ed and Al were sitting in their hotel room when there was a knock on the door. Ed got up and opened the door, expecting Roy to be on the other side. Instead, it was one of the concierges from the hotel.

"There's a phone call for you at the front desk."

"Oh, okay," Ed said, following the man downstairs. He picked up the phone uncertainly, wondering whom it was. "Hello?"

"I'm glad you're here. It saves me the trouble of trying to find you."

"What?"

Roy sighed. "I know how you can get it back."

"Really?"

"Yes. But," Roy continued. "We should find someplace to meet. I don't want to draw attention by going directly to you, or for you to draw attention by coming here."

"So, where are you saying we should go?"

"Winry Rockbell's with you, right?"

"Yeah, she is."

"Good. She should know where to go."

"Eh?"

"The resting place of an old friend. You don't remember him, but she does. Come in five days, at noon."

Ed was about to ask more when Roy hung up. He looked at the phone for a moment before giving it back to the concierge. He walked up the stairs and knocked on Winry's door.

"Winry?" he called out softly, hoping she hadn't fallen asleep. She opened the door and looked at Ed.

"What is it? I was about to go to bed."

"I got a call from Mustang."

"Eh? What did he say?"

"He said… to meet him at the resting place of an old friend. In five days, at noon. He said you'd know what he meant."

Winry looked at Ed. "Of course, you wouldn't remember him… Well, I'm going to sleep now."

"So you know what he's talking about?"

"Yeah, I do. Good night."

"Night."

----------------

Ed had a very long streak of bad luck the day of the meeting. First he fell out of bed, which caused him to land right on his suitcase. His suitcase was open, and a random spoon stuck to his back. Ed didn't notice the spoon until he pulled off his shirt, when it hit his head. While Ed rubbed his head, he walked into the bathroom, where he tripped on the tile and landed face first on the floor.

"OW!" he cried, and Al came running into the bathroom. Ed sat up and rubbed his head.

"Ah, jeez, figures something like this would happen," he muttered as Al examined Ed's head. "Does it look bad?"

"Not too bad. Jeez, you're such a klutz."

Ed tried to stand up, but underneath his foot was some water, so he slipped and fell back, hitting his head again. He lay on the floor for several minutes, clutching his head. "Damn it…"

There was a knock on the door. Al went to open the door. It was Winry.

"What are you guys doing? We should get down to breakfast before… where's Ed?"

Al pointed to the open bathroom door. "He's been having some difficulties this morning."

"Difficulties? What kind of difficulties?"

"Well, I think he forgot how to walk, because he's lost his footing twice already this morning. And he hit his head both times."

Winry walked into the bathroom and helped Ed to his feet. "Maybe you should stay in bed today," she said as she sat him down on the bed. "Al, you should stay with him."

"But what about meeting the Colonel?" Al asked.

"I'll do that. I'm the only one who knows where to go, after all. And we can't leave Ed all alone, especially when he's bound to hurt himself even more."

"Hey," Ed muttered as he stood up. "Just because I had a couple of probl-" he tripped again. "Okay, fine, maybe I do have a problem."

"Yeah, so you should stay here so you don't get a concussion."

Ed sighed and sat back down. Winry checked the room to make sure there weren't any stray pointy objects floating around before leaving. "I'll be back in a while, okay?" she said as she closed the door.

----------------

Roy was waiting patiently at Hughes's grave when Winry showed up. Roy raised an eyebrow in surprise when he saw her alone. Winry saw this and looked slightly embarrassed.

"Uh, Ed's been having some problems this morning, so he stayed at the hotel. Al's with him."

"Problems? What kind of problems?"

"He's hit his head four times already today." Winry sighed. "I can't believe he's such a klutz."

Roy laughed. "For a minute I was worried that he'd gotten sick again."

Winry looked at Roy in confusion. "Again?"

Roy looked at Winry. He was resisting the urge to find a desk and bang his head on it. "Ah, right, you don't know what happened after they regained their bodies."

Winry shook her head. "I know Ed went missing, but that's all."

Roy scratched his head before looking at Winry again. "It's a pretty long story. What do you say we go get lunch? My treat."

"Uh…"

"Unless you'd rather stay here in the cold."

Winry didn't move. Roy sighed. "Whatever Edward told you about me, it isn't true, okay? Besides, this is something you should know."

Winry thought about it for a moment. "Okay."

-----------------

Ed lay on his bed for a long time. He was beginning to worry about Winry. Why was it taking so long for her to meet with Mustang? He looked over at Al, who seemed to be sharing that concern. After a while, Al spoke.

"I wonder what they're doing."

"Yeah, it's not like Winry to take so long to get one thing. Maybe something happened."

"Brother, don't be like that. I'm sure she's fine."

There was a knock on the door. Al stood up and walked over. A concierge was standing in the doorway.

"There is a phone call for Mr. Elric."

"Which one?"

"He wasn't specific."

Ed and Al exchanged glances. Al sighed and followed the concierge downstairs. Ed stared at the ceiling, barely moving. After a while, he got bored and went downstairs to see what the phone call was all about.

Surprisingly, Al wasn't downstairs. Ed looked around, went back up to his room to see if he had missed seeing his brother on the way down, went back down, looked around the lobby again, and finally decided to ask the concierge.

"Your brother? He took the call and left suddenly. He said he had something important to do."

"Why wouldn't he tell me, though?"

"He seemed very panicked. He said that you should wait here for Ms. Rockbell. He'll be back in the evening."

----------------

Winry sat poking at her food. Roy had just finished telling his side of the story, and now there was an uncomfortable silence. After another moment, Roy pulled something out of his pocket.

"I got this note a while ago. It's from Alphonse."

Winry took the note and read it. "Wait, so they knew they'd be losing their memories? And what does this mean, endangering me?"

"You remember what I said, right? They were using you as a way to make sure those brothers wouldn't go off and do anything against them. Now that those two don't remember anything they found out about the enemy, though, there is no longer a need for that."

"But if they remember, won't that be a problem?"

"As long as nobody finds out, then it won't be. However…" Roy trailed off, looking through the window. Winry looked at him in confusion.

"Um, is something wrong?" she asked.

"I could have sworn I just saw Alphonse run by."

"Eh?" Winry looked out the window, but she didn't see any trace of Al. "Are you sure?"

Roy shrugged. "I was probably imagining it." He handed Winry a small medallion. "This is what you need to give them. I don't know how it works, but this is what came with the note."

"Thank you," Winry said as she stood up. They walked down the street for a while before going their separate ways.

---------------

Al stopped running as he came to a deserted warehouse. He looked around, trying to see if he was in the right place. After a moment, he heard footsteps coming from inside. Al hid behind a wall to see who it was.

Two military policemen walked out of the building. They were so absorbed in conversation that they failed to notice the teenager standing right by them. Al watched as they continued on their way. He failed to notice the person standing right behind him.

A hand went over Al's mouth and a blade was pressed against his throat. Al tried to see who was behind him, but he soon realized it was a bad idea to try and move his head. He heard a voice in his ear.

"Walk quietly forward and I won't kill you."

Al followed the instructions, eventually ending up in a dilapidated room inside the warehouse. Someone was standing in the shadows. Al felt the hand leave his mouth, but the blade was still against the throat. The person in the shadows walked up to Al. He was wearing a military uniform.

"Heh, I forgot how easy it was to manipulate a ten-year-old."

"I'm fifteen," Al said, glaring at the man.

"But in your mind you're still ten. Or did that change?"

"Who are you?" Al asked.

The man smirked. "Well, I guess since you don't recognize me, you don't remember anything. Well, who I am isn't important. I have some questions for you."

"Like what?"

"Like why you're in Central, for one. Don't you live in Resembool?"

"Yeah, so?"

"So why are you in Central? It's not like there's a point to it. You've thrown everything away."

"What do you mean, I've thrown everything away? Are you talking about the past five years?"

"That's exactly what I'm talking about. I'm skeptical that you just happened to forget everything that's happened. Of course, maybe that's the price you paid to regain your bodies, but then why did you only forget after your brother got his arm back?"

"How should I know?"

"Good point. Well, how about this," the man continued. "Why are you in Central?"

"Winry's visiting someone. We just came because we didn't have anything else to do."

"Ah, your childhood friend. Who is she visiting?"

"I don't know. She hasn't told us."

The man sighed and gestured to the person holding Al. Al felt the blade leave his throat, just before something came crashing down on his head. "I guess we'll just have to ask that pipsqueak," the man said as Al began to lose consciousness.

----------------

Ooh, so dramatic! Enjoy.


	3. Change in plans

I should give the other chapters names… hmmm…

------------

Ed paced impatiently in his room, waiting for his brother to return. He looked at the clock again. It was almost nine o'clock. Winry watched Ed for a while before speaking. "Shouldn't we go looking for him?"

"But where would we start? This is a big city," Ed replied.

"Well, Colonel Mustang thought he saw Al when we were talking about the past five years. I'm guessing that maybe he actually saw him, and wasn't just imagining it."

"Which way was he going?"

Winry thought about it for a moment and wrote some directions for Ed. "That's as much as I know. He disappeared right after that."

"Thanks, Winry," Ed said as he pulled on his coat and went for the door.

"Hey, are you going right now?"

"Yeah, I have to make sure he's all right. I'll be back soon."

"You'd better be!"

Ed waved as he ran down the hall. Winry sighed as she closed the door.

-------------

_Owwww, my head… What the heck was that? Who were those people…?_ Al slowly opened his eyes. Someone was standing in front of him. Al didn't move, expecting something bad to happen. Instead, the person held out a hand.

"What are you doing here, Alphonse?" The voice was oddly familiar. Al looked up. It was Roy.

Al took the hand and slowly stood up. "I'm not really sure."

"Well, come on. Winry's worried about you, and Fullmet- Edward went off looking for you. You should get back to the hotel."

"Right…" Al walked down the empty street with Roy. "Sorry."

"For what? It's not like I had a problem with coming after you. I'm more concerned about your brother." Roy paused when he saw the worried look on Al's face. "Don't worry, though. He'll turn up."

"I hope so," Al muttered.

They arrived at the hotel. Roy left Al at the front door after more reassurances. Al walked through the hotel and went straight to his room. Winry was waiting for him inside. She hugged Al and had him sit down.

"I'm glad you're okay."

"Yeah, but now Ed's the one who's missing."

"He'll be fine. You should get some rest. That bump doesn't look good."

Al nodded and pulled off his shoes. In a few minutes, he was asleep.

--------------

Ed wandered through the streets of Central, looking for his brother. After a while, he came to a realization, but he refused to admit it. Once he ended up in a random alley, though, he decided he had to come to terms with what he had learned. He was hopelessly lost.

Ed sighed and turned back to the road he had left. As he walked down the street, Ed heard a voice calling his name. He turned around to see a woman running up to him. She caught up with him and breathed a sigh of relief.

"I'm glad I found you. Have you found Alphonse?"

Ed looked with confusion at the woman. Since she was talking so familiarly with him, he assumed she was someone he knew, but he didn't know whom. "No, I haven't."

"Well, there's not much you can do at the moment. Come on, it's getting late."

Ed watched as she walked off, not quite sure whether he should follow. After a moment, she looked back at Ed. "Come on. You shouldn't be outside at this time of night."

Ed reluctantly followed. As they went inside, Ed rubbed his shoulder. It was sore. It took him a moment to realize he had no idea who he was following around. He silently berated himself for being so foolish.

Once at the door of an apartment, the woman turned. "You don't remember me, right? I'm Riza Hawkeye."

"Ah, right."

As they entered the apartment, the phone rang. Riza closed the door and went to answer it. Ed looked around at the place. A dog began sniffing his pants. Ed looked down at it and thought of Den.

Riza hung up the phone and turned to Ed. "Your brother's fine. He's back at the hotel."

"That's good," Ed muttered, suppressing a yawn.

"Well, it's too late for you to go back now, so why don't you just spend the night here? I don't mind, although there isn't really anyplace comfortable."

Ed shrugged. "That's okay. Thanks for your help."

Riza smiled. "There's no way I could ever understand what you're going through right now. I just hope you can find a way to remember the past five years, although that might make you like Colonel Mustang less," she said with a strange smile. Then she looked at Ed with concern. "Is something wrong with your shoulder?" she asked.

Ed had been unconsciously rubbing his shoulder. He lowered his arm. "Ah, yeah, there's a small piece of automail stuck in there still. It's not too bad, though."

Riza shrugged and disappeared for a moment. When she returned, she had a bundle in her arms. She gave it to Ed. "Here, this should be good for the night. Let me know if you need anything."

"Yeah, thanks," Ed replied as Riza went into her bedroom. Ed laid the blankets out in a corner of the room and turned off the light. Soon he was fast asleep.

--------------

Riza woke up in the middle of the night. She stood up and walked to the bathroom, glancing at Ed on her way. He was on his side, facing the wall. As Riza headed back to bed, she looked at Ed again. The blanket had shifted in the night. She reached down to adjust it.

Black Hayate had approached Ed and was now settling down by Ed's face. Riza sighed as the small dog closed his eyes.

"Are you going to sleep there now?" she asked her dog. Black Hayate looked back up at Riza and yawned. She smiled. "Just try not to bother him, okay?"

As she made her way back to her room, Riza heard Ed's voice. "Is there really any advantage to getting my memories back?"

Riza stopped and turned back to Ed. "What do you mean?"

"Assuming I really do get to remember. I don't know anything about who I was back then. Was I really a good person?"

"Is that what you're worried about?" Riza leaned against the wall. "You do have a reputation, and for the most part, it's a good one. You helped a lot of people. And before you go on and wonder about your reasoning behind helping people, I want you to know that I've never thought of you as selfish. You frequently went out of your way to help people you didn't know. Both of you did." Riza stood straight. "Your brother even saved my life once. He could have run away, he could have ensured his own personal safety by leaving me behind, but he didn't."

"Have I ever killed anyone?"

"No, not that I know of, and I'm sure I would have found out if you had. You're not that kind of person. Why are you so concerned about this?"

"I had a dream. I don't remember what it was about, but it made me feel like I've hurt someone."

"That could be, but if you have, then you have to live with it. If you refuse to regain your past, then you'll only be running away." Riza walked away. "Anyway, don't worry about it right now. If you're really unsure of whether you want to remember, then don't let yourself remember just yet. Give yourself time to decide. We won't hold any grudge against you if you decide against it."

--------------

Ed woke up to the sound of someone knocking on the door. He sat up wearily as Riza walked through the room and checked to see who was knocking. She looked back at Ed.

"It's Colonel Mustang."

Ed stood up as Riza opened the door. Roy walked in and looked at him. "Oh, so you're still here. Good."

"What's up?" Ed asked, stifling a yawn.

"Someone's going to be looking for you. You shouldn't stay in Central."

"What do you mean?"

"Yesterday, your brother got a call from someone claiming to be holding someone hostage. He demanded that Alphonse come to them at an abandoned military building on the other side of town. Your brother panicked, and went over there, but he didn't realize it was a trap until he arrived." Roy paused. "The people who had called didn't have anyone hostage. They were just trying to get him to answer some questions."

"What kind of questions?"

"About why the three of you are in Central. They don't know that you've been in contact with us, and it's better that they don't find out."

"Why's that?"

"If they find that there's a way for you two to regain your memories, then they'll be sure that you take that step and become a part of their plans again." Roy looked straight into Ed's eyes for a moment. "The whole reason you lost your memories in the first place was to avoid being watched by the military. If you give anything away to the enemy, not only will you be in the same situation you were in before regaining your bodies, but the two of us will be questioned, and your situation will most likely worsen."

"But then, where should I go?" Ed asked.

"I know of a place you can stay for a while. We'll bring your brother there too. After a few weeks, I'll be able to get off of work for a while, and use that time to get the two of you out of Central. By then, Winry will have gone back to Rush Valley."

"But where will we go? For some reason I doubt that returning to Resembool would be possible."

"No, it won't be. My plan is to send you north. You met some people up there last winter, and after contacting them about the current situation, they said they'd be willing to hide you up there, on the condition that you do some work for them."

"What kind of work?"

"Mostly alchemy. She said it depends on what you're good at now."

"What about Winry? Does she know about all this?"

"Yes, she does. I talked to her about it this morning. She's going to say you two left without giving her much information. That way they won't put much suspicion on her."

Ed looked at the two adults. Both of them looked dead serious. "So I have to go into hiding now?"

"You and your brother, yes."

"For how long?"

"Not too long, just long enough for them to think that you coming to Central was just a coincidence. After a while, you'll just show up in Resembool saying you're done traveling."

"But what if they don't believe that?"

"It depends on how good of an actor you are. If you can make them believe that you've just been traveling, then you'll be fine."

"But what if I can't?"

"Then just say you've been looking for a way to regain your memory, but you haven't found anything."

"But what about what you said the other night?"

"Just because you know about it doesn't mean you know what it is, so you're fine."

Ed had several more questions, but he decided not to ask them. "So, where is this place you were talking about?" he finally asked.

Roy looked at Ed. "Come with me," he said, walking out the door. Ed said goodbye to Riza before following Roy out of the apartment building.

--------------

Somewhere in Central stood a large house. Two cars were parked in the front. One of the cars had just arrived. Ed looked at the house with confusion as he followed Roy to the door.

"Who lives here?" he asked Roy.

"You remember meeting Major Armstrong, don't you? This is where he lives."

"So we have to stay with him for the next few weeks?" Ed asked, less than thrilled at this new knowledge.

"Yes, but you won't be seeing much of him. You'll be staying in a hidden room in there. It's small, but it's decent, and nobody will be able to find you."

Ed groaned. Roy ignored him as he knocked on the door. Ed heard footsteps on the other side and found himself looking straight at a blonde moustache. Ed took a step back.

"He's here," Roy said.

Armstrong looked at Ed, who had moved several feet away and was avoiding eye contact at all costs. "Is something wrong?"

"No, he's just nervous," Roy said in a low voice. "After all, he's only eleven in his mind, and he barely knows you."

"Of course. I'll try to be careful with him."

As they walked through the house, Roy spoke to Armstrong again. "Don't treat him like a child, though. He's trying his best to act his age, even though he's missed five years of growth in his mind."

Armstrong looked back at the small alchemist. "Then there's really nothing from those years left?"

"No."

They stopped walking. Roy turned to Ed with a cautious smile on his face. "I'm going to head back now. I'll see you in a few weeks."

Ed nodded. "See you."

-----------------

The weeks slowly passed by, and a day came when Ed and Al were lying in their small hidden room. The light bulb had burned out only minutes earlier, but neither of the two had the energy to do anything about it. Instead, they lay in the dark, each lost in their own thoughts.

"Al."

"What?"

"Are you nervous?"

"About going to the north? Yeah, especially since I don't remember the people we're going to be with. What about you?"

"Well, I've been thinking about that some, and I realized something else too."

"What?"

"What if they don't expect to see us like this? Back in Resembool, the more recent pictures of us had you wearing really big armor, and I had automail. I just don't think we fit the picture now."

"The Colonel probably mentioned that when he talked to them."

"Yeah, but still…"

The door opened, flooding light into the little room. Ed sat up and squinted at the person in the doorway.

"Why is the light off?" Roy asked, looking around at the room.

"It went out," Ed said in a bored tone.

"Well, get ready. We're going to leave now."

Ed and Al grabbed their things and followed Roy to a car. As they drove, Ed realized they were getting further and further away from the city. He looked at Roy in confusion.

"Where are we going?"

"To a train station outside of Central. That way you can avoid meeting military personnel who recognize you."

"Oh. How far is it?"

"Not too far."

Ed put his arm against the door and rested his chin on his hand. He stared out the window in boredom. Finally, they arrived at the station, and Roy bid farewell to the two boys. He handed them some papers through the train window.

"Get off at that station and switch trains. From there you'll get off at this station, where someone will meet you."

"Who?"

"Someone you've met before. He'll recognize you."

"Does he work for the military?"

"Yes, at the border. It's important that you meet up with him, because if you just go up there on your own, you'll be mistaken for spies again."

"Spies?" Ed repeated curiously as the train began to move. "Wait, again? You mean it's happened before?"

Roy shrugged as the train picked up speed. He waved at the two boys before walking off.

----------------

_**I like bold, italicized, and underlined font. It's fun.** **Wheeeeeeeeeeeee.**_


	4. Unfamiliar faces

Next chapter… I like putting random things into my stories, so yeah… You'll probably figure that out very soon…

---------------

As they arrived in the North, Ed and Al saw someone waiting nearby. He was wearing a military uniform. Ed looked at the man for a moment, wondering whether this was the man they were supposed to meet.

Upon seeing Ed, the man walked over and greeted Ed. "I'm glad you made it all right. Where's your brother?"

Ed looked at the man with confusion as he pointed to his brother. The man looked at Al for a moment before laughing.

"What's so funny?" Ed asked.

"I didn't think you'd actually be able to do it. Never mind that, though," he continued as Ed opened his mouth. "We should go now before the storm arrives."

Ed and Al followed the man through the town and up a road towards what Ed thought was a monstrous wall. Military workers looked at the three without much curiosity. A few of them even greeted the brothers, but Ed didn't recognize any of them. He just followed the man to an office.

Sitting behind the desk was a woman with blonde hair. She stood up as they entered. "So you came the way you were supposed to. I was worried, since you never really seemed to have any common sense." These last words were clearly directed at Ed, but he didn't react. He was still trying to figure something out.

Al looked nervously at the woman before pulling out a letter. "Um, Colonel Mustang said to give this to you…"

The woman took one look at the letter and tossed it into the fireplace. Al stared at her in shock.

"Don't you remember what I said last time you gave me one of those?" she said, sounding fairly irritated.

"No!" Ed replied. "In fact, we don't remember you at all."

She glared at Ed for a while. "And why is it that I'm so forgettable?"

"It's not just you," Al said. "We don't have any memories from the past five years."

"And why wasn't I informed of this earlier?"

"Probably because it was written on there," Al shot back, pointing at the fireplace.

"I see," the woman said. "So, I suppose I need to introduce myself again."

----------------

Major General Armstrong wasted no time with sending the boys to work. Ed soon found himself carrying a box down a long hallway. Al was right behind him.

"Figures we'd be doing stuff like this," Ed muttered. "Where are we supposed to bring these again?"

"I'm pretty sure she said to bring them to the Medical Room down there," Al replied. "That, and it says medical supplies on the side of your box."

Ed stopped at the door of the medical room and put his box down. Before he had a chance to knock on the door, someone opened it. She looked at Ed for a moment. "Oh, you're here again. Who's this kid?" she asked, pointing at Al.

"That's my brother."

"Oh, so he's like this now, huh? What are you two doing here?"

"Dropping something off," Ed replied, gesturing to the box on the ground.

"Ah, yes, I've been waiting for those. Thanks." The woman grabbed the box on the ground and led the two inside. "So what brings you back here? I thought you had left to do something in Central."

Ed shrugged. "Um, you probably don't know this, but Al and I don't remember anything from the past five years, so…"

"Oh, so that explains it. Are you trying to jog your memory by coming here?"

"No, actually, we were sent here by someone else."

Just then, someone came into the room. Ed looked back to see Major General Armstrong standing right behind him. "They're actually in hiding at the moment, and doing some work so that it's not a waste of time keeping them here."

"Oh, I get it now."

Armstrong looked at the two brothers for a moment. "What are you standing there for? There are still about ten boxes of this stuff that you need to get up here."

"Right," Ed replied as he headed for the door.

----------------

Ed's shoulder was aching as he carried a box through the fortress for the third time. The fourth time was no better, and by the time he began carrying the fifth box up the stairs, his arm just gave out.

Luckily, Al had already set his down, so he managed to prevent a spill of the box's contents. At that moment, however, Major General Armstrong just happened to pass by, and she decided that this particular moment would be the best time to give Ed a lecture. After a minute, Al decided to risk interrupting her to tell her about Ed's little magnet problem. She sighed and had the two follow her into her office for the second time that day.

"Why didn't you tell me about this?" she asked.

"I didn't realize that something like this could happen, so I didn't think it was important," Ed replied sheepishly.

"I suppose this means you won't be doing any heavy lifting now. Let's see how good you are at alchemy. I doubt you're as good as when you came last time, so I want to be sure you can at least do something useful with it."

Ed nodded and took the paper and random chunks of metal she handed him. He quickly drew a circle and put his hands on it. Armstrong slowly examined the small object that resulted from the transmutation.

"Not bad. I guess you really did deserve the title of State Alchemist."

Ed was caught off guard. He didn't think that this person was the kind who would praise skill, but here it was, a compliment from someone that Ed found to be fairly frightening. He stood with a blank look on his face for about a minute before he was sent downstairs to an alchemy research lab. He spent the rest of the day learning what they were focusing on while Al continued to carry stuff around.

----------------

The next few days passed fairly peacefully, and Ed's shoulder wasn't acting up nearly as much as it had been. It wasn't until late one night when Ed had a problem. He and Al were walking up to the room they were sleeping in when Ed felt a searing pain in his arm. He stopped walking.

Al walked a few more steps before he noticed his brother wasn't walking with him. He stopped and turned around. "Is it your arm again?" he asked as he walked to Ed's side.

"Yeah, it's pretty bad this time," Ed replied.

"Well, let's get to our room. Maybe it'll be better in the morning."

Ed nodded as they continued walking to the room. He fell onto the bed with a groan and lay there without moving. After a moment, Al began pulling his shoes off.

"I don't see why I'm doing this for you," he muttered.

Ed massaged his shoulder as he spoke. "I don't see why you care about my shoes. It's my arm that hurts."

"Yeah, but I don't want you to fall asleep with your shoes on."

"You're acting like Mom."

"Well, someone has to take care of you. You're obviously not doing a good job of taking care of yourself."

Ed tried to sit up and hit his brother, but he only made it halfway before falling back. "You're lucky I can't move."

"You're lucky I'm in a good mood right now. There's so many things I could do to you right now…"

Ed looked at the ceiling. "Hey, Al, are you trying to be fifteen right now?"

"What do you mean?" Al asked with a question on his face.

"It's just that… I don't really know how to act right now. Are we supposed to act the age we think we are, or the age we really are?"

Al took a few steps back and sat down. "I… I don't know. I've been concentrating more on trying to remember. I think you should concentrate more on that, too. Knowing who we are will be better for us both."

"Yeah, but I don't know what to do anymore. We can't exactly use alchemy to fix this problem, either."

There was a knock on the door, and Miles entered. Ed sat up, putting great efforts into not showing that he was in pain. Miles stood just in front of the door.

"You two are going out on a patrol tomorrow. Someone's coming to inspect this place and Major General Armstrong doesn't want you here when they come."

"O rly?" Ed asked.

"Ya rly."

"No wai."

"Ya wai."

"Srsly?"

"Ya srsly."

"LOL thats awsum."

"I kno rite?"

"WTF why r we talkin like this?"

"No clue man."

"Oh well its kewl."

"Ya ttly."

"Hey lets go bowling."

"No wai there isnt a bowling alley around here."

Al smacked his brother on the head. "Why are you talking in internet lingo when the computer hasn't even been invented yet? Um, Mr. Miles, I don't know how good it would be for brother to go outside. His arm's getting worse."

"It shouldn't be a problem. You're not going to be doing anything strenuous, just walking."

"Right," Al said, but he was still worried.

-------------------

They went out early the next morning. Ed's arm was still aching terribly, so they had put it in a sling. As they walked outside, Ed felt something pressing against his back. He looked back to see Al step back. There was a knife on Ed's back. "Just in case," Al said. Ed pulled it off and threw it at his brother. Al ducked with a laugh.

"Will you stop sticking stuff to my back?" Ed yelled at his brother as he pulled a spoon from his shoulder. "And how the hell did this get here?"

"Shut up!" Buccaneer chucked a lawnmower at Ed as the sky began to clear. They walked through the wilderness in silence as the weather went from wonderful to terrible.

---------------------

Meanwhile, back at the ranch (shoots self for using stupid cliché), someone was speaking with Major General Armstrong. Miles was standing behind his superior as they faced the soldier from Central.

"So who is it that you're looking for again?"

"The Elric brothers."

"And why do you think they would have come up here?"

"The two of them have lost a large portion of their memories. It is believed that they are attempting to regain their memories by traveling to places they visited within the past five years."

"And so you've come here. Well, if they're in the area, they haven't come close to this base. I have someone on patrol at the moment. If they're around, he'll definitely find them. But, I have to wonder. What is it about those boys that makes them so important?"

"Those two know a very large amount of information concerning the military. In the event that they regain their memories, it would be a very bad thing if they were to be captured by the enemy."

Armstrong nodded. "Of course. Miles, go out and find Buccaneer and tell him to keep an eye out for the Elric brothers."

----------------

The two returned late that evening. As Ed walked down the hallway behind his brother, he began massaging his shoulder again. Al looked at him with concern in his eyes.

"Is it still hurting?"

"Yeah, it's not that great at the moment."

"We really need to do something about that. I don't want you to end up not being able to use your arm."

"Me neither, but I can't exactly go to a hospital right now, remember?"

"Yeah, but still…"

"Al, don't worry about it. It's not too bad."

Ed heard someone walking behind them and turned around. It was Armstrong. "Come with me for a moment. Something has come up."

The two exchanged glances and followed her to her office. As they sat down, Ed noticed something strange on Olivier's face.

"So. You've been told about the current situation, correct?"

"Yes."

"Then you realize that it would be unwise for the two of you to stay here. I believe it's time for you to go home. You leave tomorrow."

"R-right. Thank you for your help." The two stood up and headed for the door.

"Edward. Stay here for a moment."

Ed paused and turned around. Al looked back for a moment and left.

"Sit down."

Ed sat back down, unsure of what he had done wrong.

"How old are you?"

"Sixteen."

"No."

"Huh?"

"How old is your mind?"

"What…?"

"You've lost a large portion of your memory, as well as the experience and maturity gained from those years. Once again, how old are you?"

Ed pointed at his head. "Well… in here I'm still eleven…"

"Then why are you trying to be sixteen?"

"Huh?"

"You're trying to be something you're not. It's getting annoying. Your mind is only eleven, and that's where you should consider yourself to be. Understood?"

Ed nodded. "Yes."

"Good. Tomorrow someone will take you to the train station. Mustang has sent tickets. Don't come back here until you're capable of acting the way you're supposed to."

With that, Olivier stood up and pointed to the door. Ed took the hint and left the office.


	5. Hurt to Help

After leaving the north, the Elric brothers went down to East City. They had planned to go to Resembool from there, but thanks to sightings of a serial killer in the area, the train station had been shut down for several days. Ed and Al walked through the city, heading for the hotel that had been recommended to them. Al groaned when he realized they were lost.

"Brother, why did you have to say you knew where we were going?"

"What are you talking about? I did know where we were going."

"Then why are we lost?"

"Because I only knew for about a minute before I forgot it again."

"Wait, does that mean you remembered something?"

"Yeah, but only for a minute. Although," Ed said as he looked up at the surrounding buildings. "This place definitely feels more familiar now."

"Well, that's not really helpful to us right now, is it?" Al muttered.

"Hey, I didn't see you asking for directions," Ed shot at his brother.

"That's because you interrupted me," Al shot right back.

"No, I didn't."

"Yes, you did."

"Did not."

"Did too."

"Did not."

"Did too."

"No way, I didn't interrupt you at all."

"Yes, you did, but I think we should talk about that later," Al said as he looked at someone standing in front of them. They had found their way into a small alleyway, and the man was blocking the exit. He looked at the two with surprise.

"Elric brothers. What are you doing here?"

"Well, we kinda got lost-" Ed said before Al pushed him roughly aside.

"You know us?" he asked the man, who was rather startled by this response. Al paused for a second before continuing. "Ah, sorry. See, we don't really remember anything from the past five years, so if we met you then…"

"I see. Both of you?"

"Yes."

"Why are you here?"

"Like I said, we got l-"

"We were heading back to our hometown, but since the train station's been shut down, we're stuck here. We were going to a hotel, but stupid brother got us lost."

There was a brief silence. Then, the man spoke up again. "I doubt it would be a good idea for you to go to a hotel."

"Why not?" Ed asked.

"Haven't you heard? The military is looking for you. It would be a very bad thing if they were to find you."

"Wait. Why is everyone so against us going near the military? Yeah, they're jerks, but that doesn't mean that…" Ed trailed off as he saw the look in the man's eyes.

"You really don't remember. If you did, you wouldn't have just said that."

"No, I don't remember. That's why I want to know what we're running from. What did we find out that's so horrible?"

The scarred man began walking away. "It's complicated. Come on, I know a place where you can stay until the station is open again."

----------------------

There was an intense silence in the room as Scar waited for one of the brothers to speak. After a while, he realized that wasn't going to happen. He stood up and checked outside. As he turned back, he saw Ed rubbing his shoulder.

"Is there something wrong with your arm?"

"Yeah, there's some metal stuck in there."

"From the automail?"

"Yeah."

Al pulled a spoon out of his pocket and put it on Ed's shoulder. "It's magnetic too."

Ed grabbed the spoon and threw it at his brother. "Will you stop that?"

Scar watched as the two argued, completely oblivious to the fact that they were in the presence of someone who had tried to kill them. After a while, they stopped, and Ed turned to Scar.

"So, how exactly did we know you, anyway?" he asked.

Scar was silent. He walked out of the room. "I have to meet someone nearby. You two stay here and don't go outside. Use common sense."

As he walked away from the old building, Scar thought of the look on Ed's face. It was a look of trust, a look that Scar had never seen in that boy's eyes before. Needless to say, it had caught him off guard.

----------------

Ed woke up before his brother the next morning. He sat up and rubbed his eyes. Scar was standing across from him. When he saw that Ed was watching him, he gestured to the door. "Come with me. There's something I have to do."

Ed quietly followed Scar through the streets to an alley crowded with old crates. "What are we doing here?" he asked as they stopped. Scar observed his right hand for a moment before turning to Ed.

"You said you have metal stuck in your right arm?"

"Uh, yeah, in my shoulder. What-"

Ed felt a hand on his chest, and he was pushed against the wall. Scar placed his right hand against Ed's shoulder. Ed barely had time to react as something happened to his shoulder. He screamed in pain. He could hear his blood splatter on the wall. He felt blood running down his chest, and he tried to get Scar's hands off of him, but to no avail.

Scar pushed against Ed's right arm and put his hand on Ed's shoulder. Ed saw something grey underneath the blood. He lost his strength and collapsed.

--------------

Al ran through the alleys until he caught up with Scar and his brother. As he turned the corner to see the two, his eyes came upon a startling sight. Ed was on the ground, and Scar was standing above him. There was blood everywhere.

"What… what did you do?" Al asked, weakly taking a few steps forward. Scar looked him with an expressionless face and held something out. Al took the bloody metal object in his hands.

"That's what was inside your brother. It shouldn't be a problem anymore."

Al stared numbly as Scar walked off. Then he remembered that his brother was unconscious and bleeding. He went over and turned his brother onto his back. Ed opened his eyes and looked at his brother.

"Hey, Al."

Al gently pulled off Ed's coat and began drawing a circle on the ground. Ed was gripping his shoulder very tightly. Al transmuted a length of bandage from the coat and was about to wrap around his brother's arm when he heard footsteps. Someone kneeled on the ground next to him and took the cloth from him.

"Let me handle this. Are you all right?" the man asked as he looked at Al. His face was incredibly scarred.

Al nodded. He was still stunned that Scar had done something like this to his brother, regardless of the good that would come out of it. Al looked back down at the metal object in his hands. He wiped it off and stuck it in his pocket. He remained silent as the man helped his brother, and continued his silence as they carried back to the old building where they had been staying. He only spoke once he was sure Ed would be all right.

"Who are you?" he asked the man, who was now checking Ed's forehead. He looked up at Al after a moment.

"Ah, right, you don't remember anything. I'm a doctor. We met once over a year ago, when the two of you were looking for a way to regain your bodies."

"Oh," Al said. He sat next to his brother and pulled the metal from his pocket. "I wonder if this is still magnetic now," he muttered as he pulled out a spoon. It was. Al smiled and put it back in his pocket. Ed moaned in his sleep and began to roll over. Al gently placed a hand on his brother's chest, effectively preventing Ed from putting any weight on his bad shoulder.

"Al…" Ed muttered faintly. "I'm sorry…"

------------------

Ed slowly opened his eyes. His arm was aching, but it wasn't nearly as bad as when he had lost consciousness. He stared at the ceiling. Someone was in the room with him, and he leaned over Ed with a concerned expression on his face.

"How's your arm?"

"It hurts."

"Well, I guess you have to expect that. He was rather harsh when he did that. Even considering that it was slowly killing you, it could have been done in a less painful manner."

Ed blinked. "Killing me?"

"Yes. It was slowly dissolving into your bloodstream. You would have died from the contamination."

"Was it really that bad?"

"It was. Even so, he was rather cruel when he got it out. Even if you were ene- Listen, can you sit up?"

Ed pushed himself into a sitting position with some effort. The man gently took Ed's right arm and placed it in a sling. "You should avoid moving it as much as possible. It's clean, so it should heal nicely, although it'll take a couple of weeks."

"Right. Thanks." Ed stood up. "Where's Al?"

"He went off with Scar to do something. They should be back soon."

"Okay." Ed stretched his left arm and walked over to the old couch nearby. He sat down and looked out through the semi-boarded window. "So, what exactly is the big deal about Scar? He's weird, sure, but he seems nice enough."

"I think that's a story for another time."

"Why?" Ed asked, but that question wasn't answered. Someone was standing in the doorway. He looked at the two with a smug expression on his face.

"Well, it seems I finally found you, Marcoh. And look, it's the Fullmetal Alchemist. Or, I suppose you aren't the Fullmetal Alchemist anymore, are you?"

Ed stood up. His eyes narrowed as he surveyed the man. He had transmutation circles tattooed on his hands, and long black hair that was pulled back into a ponytail. "Who are you?" he asked with suspicion in his voice.

"Oh, I suppose you wouldn't remember meeting me. If you did, you would be behaving rather differently. So tell me. Why are you mingling with fugitives? Wouldn't you be better off at home?"

Ed took a step back. "Maybe, maybe not. Who the hell are you?"

The man took a step forward. "My name is Zolf J. Kimblee. I am a State Alchemist, just like both of you used to be. Now, come with me. Dr. Marcoh is wanted back in Central, and you shouldn't be wandering around when there's a serial killer on the loose."

Ed looked at Marcoh. The old man looked very conflicted, but he took a step forward. Ed decided to follow suit. Then he heard footsteps from outside, and his brother showed up in the doorway, followed by Scar.

Kimblee's eyes flashed when he saw Scar. Scar's eyes grew cold as he saw Kimblee standing in front of him. Al looked at the two before turning his gaze to his brother. "What's going on?" he asked.

"This man is responsible for killing many of my people," Scar replied.

"And this man is responsible for killing several State Alchemists. He nearly killed you as well, Elric."

Ed looked from Kimblee to Scar in shock. "What do you mean?"

"It's exactly how it sounds. He tried to kill you for being a State Alchemist. Now step back. He needs to be dealt with."

Ed looked from Scar to Kimblee again, unsure of what to do. Al hadn't moved at all. Ed looked back at his shoulder and made up his mind. In two swift movements, he had joined his brother in front of Scar. Kimblee looked at him in surprise.

"Oh, so you're willing to protect someone who would willingly kill you?"

"Even if what you say is true, he isn't trying to kill me anymore. He saved my life."

"Is that so? Well, if that's the case, then I won't try to reason with you. Get out of the way or I'll just kill you instead."

"No."

Ed felt Scar's hand on his good shoulder. "Don't try to protect me. I don't deserve it from you. Get out of here. Now."

Ed and Al exchanged glances and broke off, each running in two separate directions. Ed grabbed Marcoh's arm and ran through the back door of the room, which led to another room. Kimblee went to chase after him, but Scar was attacking him, so he had to deal with that first.

Ed pulled a piece of chalk from his pocket and drew a circle on the wall. He pressed his hand against it, and a door opened. It led to another alley. One end was closed off, and the other end was blocked by a group of military policemen. They pointed their guns at the two. Ed held his hands in the air, not knowing what else to do. Marcoh did the same. Just then, someone came walking up to the two. He was an old man, wearing a military uniform.

"Oh, this man isn't one of Scar's comrades. You can let him leave. He wouldn't know anything helpful."

"Then why is he here?"

"By accident. Don't worry about him. I apologize for the trouble, sir. You may go."

Ed looked with surprise at the man. Marcoh did the same before walking off. The old man looked Ed over once before walking down the alley. "Come on. You shouldn't stay here. It's dangerous."


	6. Return of a Stray Dog

Al ran as fast as he could away from the area where Scar and Kimblee were fighting, but he didn't get very far. Standing in his way were several military policemen. Al turned around and ran away from the soldiers, failing to see his brother standing behind them. He turned a corner and found himself facing another group of them. Before Al could turn around, they tackled him to the ground and tied his hands behind his back. Al struggled in vain to get away from them.

He found himself being dragged through the streets to a car, where his brother was already sitting. Ed's right hand was free, but his left was tied down. He looked up at Al for a moment.

"Well, I guess we're stuck now," he said as someone sat in the driver's seat and started the car. They drove quietly to East City HQ, and the driver opened Ed's door. Al got a brief look at his face and gasped. It was the same man who had interrogated him in Central weeks before.

Al didn't get a chance to react, because someone had opened his door and was making him get out. Al walked with this person into the building. Ed had gone off with the other man. They brought Al to a small room and had him wait there. He felt like a prisoner.

-----------------

Ed was made to sit down in a small room containing a table and two chairs. The soldier locked the door and sat down across from him. An eerie feeling of déjà vu came over Ed as he stared at the soldier.

"Hey, why are we being treated like criminals?" he asked, shifting his right arm slightly.

The soldier folded his hands and smirked at Ed. "We have a slight problem. Word has gotten out that the two of you have lost your memories, and several terrorist groups are looking for you, in the hopes that they can turn you to their side and make you regain your memories. There is also the possibility that this could happen with other countries as well. Therefore, we are putting the two of you under strict surveillance. Understood?"

"Yeah, but why-"

"You two were found living with a dangerous criminal. It would create quite a problem if you were found to have been helping him."

"What makes you think we were helping him?" Ed asked. "Did you see what he did to my arm?"

"Ah, yes, your arm. That brings up another question. Have you regained any memories at all?"

"No. I remember things in dreams, and for a minute or two at a time, but then it's gone."

"So you don't remember anything about the military?"

"No."

"You do realize that lying to me won't do you any good."

"Yeah, and I'm not lying."

"How can I be sure of that?"

"I don't know."

The soldier stood up and slammed his hands on the table. "You're just as aggravating as ever, pipsqueak."

Note: the following scene is incredibly violent and pickle-flavored, so it has been censored.

Ed glared at the soldier as someone held him back. The soldier smirked and walked up to Ed. "You know, you could get in serious trouble for attacking a soldier. But, since you're obviously not aware of who I am, I suppose I have no choice but to believe you. You will still have someone keeping an eye on you, however."

"Why? Al and I can take care of ourselves, and we're not stupid enough to join a terrorist organization."

"Sure you aren't." The other soldiers let Ed go, and the one gestured for Ed to sit back down. "Now, I have another question for you. Are you willing to rejoin the military as a State Alchemist?"

"If I do will it get you off my back?"

"Possibly."

"Then maybe. I'd have to think it over."

"Good. I'll give you a week. Give me an answer by then."

-------------------

As soon as Ed got out of that room, he was led to a small room where his brother was waiting. As soon as they were alone, Al turned on his brother.

"What did he say to you?" he asked.

"What? Um, well… he just wanted to know if I remembered anything. And if I was interested in joining the military again. We're also going to be under surveillance or something. Al, what's up? You're acting weird."

"Ed, that guy's the one who attacked me in Central."

"Wait, you mean…"

"Yeah, he's the one who was asking all those questions earlier."

Ed sat down on the couch. "Well, what do you think he wants? I mean, he was a jerk, but he wasn't exactly evil when I was talking to him."

"I don't know. But brother, do you think you'll end up joining the military again?"

"I don't really want to, but if I have to…"

"You should."

"Why?"

"Think about it. If you're in the military, there's less of a chance of us getting into trouble. Besides, whoever our enemies are won't expect us to be working against them if we're just going to be searching for a way to regain our memories."

Ed yawned. "I guess you're right. Anyway, we have a week before I have to give an answer, so we don't have to decide right away. For now, I think I'm going to bed."

"You take the real bed, brother. I can sleep on the couch."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, since you're hurt. I don't mind."

Ed looked back at his arm. "Right…"

-----------------

A week passed, and the soldier came again. He came just as Ed was trying to pull a shirt on without having his arm hurt. He watched the attempts for a while with amusement before speaking.

"So what did you decide?"

There was a muffled grunt from within the shirt. Al looked at his brother, who had definitely managed to get himself trapped. "He said he'll do it."

"Good. Now stop looking like a moron and we'll go to Central."

"Now?" Ed asked as he beat the shirt at its own game.

"Yes, now. I'm not going to wait around any longer."

"Right…"

As soon as the two were ready, they left the building and headed for the train station. Halfway through, Ed realized something.

"Hey, what happened with Scar?" he asked.

"There is a large amount of uncertainty in that case. He disappeared, and we found Kimblee dead two blocks away from where you were found."

"Wait, you mean he killed him?"

"Yes."

Ed was rather surprised. Even though Scar was a scary person, Ed had never imagined that they had been staying with a killer. The soldier, whose name was still unknown to the brothers, noticed this and laughed. "Is it really that surprising? Or were you not told about what he did to you in the past?"

"What?"

"The first two times you met him, he was trying to kill you."

Ed was caught off guard again. "Wait… kill us? Why?"

The soldier gave an aggravated sigh. "Because, he's a State Alchemist killer, and you were a State Alchemist at one point in time. Or did you not know about that either?"

"Why would he do that?"

The soldier slammed on the brakes and turned off the car. "Okay, we're here. Get out."

"But you didn't answer the question."

"Damn it, the sooner you get your memory back, the better," the soldier said as he got out and slammed the door. As Ed opened the door, he could hear the soldier muttering something along the lines of "Last time I'll agree to deal with a couple of brats."

As they sat in the train, Ed noticed a strange look on his brother's face. The soldier was talking to someone out in the hall. Ed turned to face Al. "What's up, Al?"

"Why is he acting like this? Is he just going to ignore the fact that he freaking attacked me, or what?"

"I have no idea," Ed replied as the soldier came back into the compartment. He sat down across from the brothers with a gun in his lap. After a moment, he turned to face Al.

"I'd like to apologize for my treatment of you in Central. I wasn't thinking straight at the time, and I was going about things the wrong way."

"Yeah, sure," Al replied sarcastically with his arms folded.

"It's true."

"Uh-huh."

The train ride to Central was a long and awkward one. Finally, they arrived, and the brothers breathed a sigh of relief before coming to realize the next problem they faced: having Ed become a State Alchemist for the second time.

---------------

From the station, the brothers got a ride to Central HQ, and from there, someone led Ed into a medium sized office. Several people were inside already, and they all seemed to be important people. It wasn't until after the whole process finished and Ed was given a silver watch that he was told just how important some of the people were. Ed was amazed that the Fuhrer himself would bother to deal with a kid like him.

Colonel Mustang had been given instructions to bring the boys to a military hotel. As they drove through the city, he looked back at the two. "So you came back to the military. I suppose that's a good thing, since now you'll be able to move around with less questions asked."

"Guess so," Ed replied. "Hey, what about our past? Didn't you say there was a way to get it back?"

"I did, but that way lies with your friend."

"You gave whatever it is that we need to Winry? Why?"

"Because I didn't think it'd be such a problem. I assumed she'd get it to you without any problems, but things didn't work out that way, did they?"

"Obviously not," Ed snorted.

Roy smiled. "Well, you're starting to act the way you used to. By the way, did they give you the same name as last time?"

"Um, yeah, I'm the Fullmetal Alchemist again."

"Good, that makes things easier." Roy stopped the car in front of a hotel. "As soon as you can, I would recommend visiting Ms. Rockbell. Don't make it too soon, though. And as soon as you regain your memories, you need to get very good at acting."

---------------

The next morning, Ed was surprised to hear that he had to report to the Fuhrer's office at noon. He went alone, not quite knowing what to expect. As he approached the doors, someone greeted him. It was Riza Hawkeye. She quietly let him in, whispering a warning for Ed to say nothing about having met before. This put Ed even more on edge.

He definitely didn't expect to see the Fuhrer sitting at a table that was set up for what seemed to be a tea party. Ed sat down, a look of sheer confusion on his face. Bradley smiled.

"It's good to see you doing well."

"Ah, yeah…" Ed replied, still wondering why Hawkeye had a very serious look on her face. She stood at attention behind Bradley until he waved her away.

"Ms. Hawkeye, would you mind leaving the room for a while? I would like to speak to Edward alone."

"Of course, sir," she replied as she saluted and walked out of the room. Once she was gone, Bradley turned back to Ed.

"So, if I understand correctly, the two of you have completely forgotten everything from the past five years and are currently the same as you were back then?"

"Yeah, that's about right."

"I assume you're going to attempt to regain your memories, correct?"

"Yes, sir."

"That may not be the wisest course of action."

"Huh? Why not?"

"The two of you witnessed some very brutal events. If you were to suddenly regain those memories without any help, the results could leave your minds in a worse state than they are in right now." Ed could hear concern in Bradley's voice.

"Oh. I guess that makes sense."

"So you agree not to go out of your way to find those memories that you have lost?"

Ed was quiet for a moment. "Yes."

Bradley smiled a friendly smile. "Good. Now then, there's the matter of what you should be doing now. Your mind is the same as when you were eleven, right?"

"Yeah."

"This brings up another problem. Many of my subordinates don't believe that you're ready to go on missions like you did when you were younger. Because of that, I find that it would be best if you were given some time to do what you wish. However, if I let you go, and I find that you're searching for your past, then I won't give you as much freedom the next time around." Bradley paused for a moment. "I know you think it's unfair, but I'm only concerned for your wellbeing."

"R-right. Um…"

"Is there something wrong?"

"N-no, not really, I'm just wondering… That man, Scar or whatever, why does he hate me?"

Bradley started at this question, but he recovered quickly. "You are familiar with the Ishbalan Civil War, right?"

"Um, yeah, sorta…"

"Scar is an Ishbalan. He is going after State Alchemists because they killed his people."

"So it's for revenge? Then why would he come after me?"

"Some people take their hatred a step too far. Recent information from Scar's latest victim states that he also killed two doctors that saved his life."

Ed slammed his hands on the table. "What? Why would he do something like that? That's…"

"It's cruel, isn't it? They had a daughter, too. In fact, I believe you know her very well."

_Doctors… I know their daughter… it couldn't be… why would he kill Winry's parents? Why Winry? How could…_ Ed's eyes widened, and he stood up. "That bastard!" he shouted before remembered where he was. He quickly sat down and stared directly at the table. "Sorry."

"No, I understand. Is there anything else you want to ask?"

Ed shook his head. "No, sir."

"Very well. The two of you are free to go where you wish, but remember what I said."

"Right," Ed replied as he stood up. "Thank you."

The Fuhrer opened the door and signaled to Riza. "Would you mind walking him out to the gate?"

"Yes, sir," Riza replied as Bradley closed the door behind them. They walked silently down the hall.

"You didn't say anything about us meeting before, did you?"

"No, I didn't."

"That's good." Riza looked down at Ed. "Is something wrong?"

Ed looked around. The hallway was mercifully empty. "I ended up staying with Scar for a while in East City. Is he really that bad of a person?"

Riza looked straight ahead. "While he does have his reasons to do what he does, it's no excuse to go as far as he goes. Actually, I don't know anything about his mind. He did save your life twice, though. I guess it's actually three times now."

"But if he hates me, why was he nice to me?"

Riza shrugged. "It could be guilt."

"From killing Winry's parents?"

"Where did you hear that?"

"From the Fuhrer."

"I see. Yes, that's what I meant. Since they saved his life, he was probably acting without thinking."

"Who would be able to do that?"

"Most people in the military are that way, Edward. Even me."

"But why does it have to be like that?"

"I don't know. All I know is that we're trying to change it." They were at the gate. "I have to go back now. Good luck with everything."

"Yeah, thanks," Ed replied.


	7. The Forsaken

This is probably the only story where every chapter has a name. XD

Big events in this chapter, big events.

When Ed got back to the hotel, Al wasted no time in asking what the Fuhrer had wanted. He seemed excited and nervous at the same time.

Ed shrugged his brother off as he sat down. "He told us we shouldn't be looking for a way to regain our memories right now."

"Why not?"

"I guess he thinks we'll go crazy if we remember."

"Or maybe he's part of this whole deal."

Ed looked up as he tried to pull off his shoe. "What do you mean?"

"Why else would he bother to be the one to tell you to not go after it? It could have been anyone with a higher rank than us. Besides, I don't like that one soldier."

"Me neither, but we can't act like we know anything suspicious, otherwise things will be bad for us."

Al sighed. "So what now?"

"Well, he said we could do whatever we wanted for a while, so maybe we can go visit Winry…"

"But wouldn't that be suspicious?"

"I don't see why it would be. She's our friend, after all."

Al thought about it for a moment. "Wait, she's in Rush Valley now, right?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Here, look at this," Al said as he took out a map of the country. "The town right after Rush Valley."

"Dublith? You want to go see our teacher?"

"Yeah, why not? We can just visit Winry on the way."

Al thought about it some more. "Yeah, that sounds good. Should we call them?"

Ed scratched his head. "Yeah, it might be nice to give them a warning. I don't know if we saw teacher since we went home from training, but it'd still be good to tell her what happened. It'll give all of us time to prepare, since she probably won't be too happy with us…"

They both shuddered. Ed lay back on his bed. "Well, I guess that's settled. Let's head out tomorrow."

----------------

As the train pulled into the Rush Valley station, Ed could see Winry waiting impatiently for them. She grabbed Ed's suitcase as soon as he got off the train, and began walking away. The two of them ran after Winry as she walked through the town.

"Hey, Winry, why are you going so fast?"

"I have something to talk to you about, but I'm afraid to say it right now."

As they arrived at Winry's small residence, Ed looked around in confusion. Winry had a few pictures on the wall, but one of them caught his attention. It was a picture of the three of them. Ed figured it had to be a recent picture, since he looked about fifteen or so in it.

The brothers sat down at a small table in the middle of the room. Winry joined them after a moment.

"So what is it that you wanted to say, Winry?" Ed asked.

She showed the two of them something she had in her hands. It was a medallion. Ed looked at it. It had an intricate design carved into it. The design looked familiar to Ed, to the point that he could have sworn he had carved it himself. When she flipped it over, Al had the same reaction about the other side.

"This is what Colonel Mustang gave me. He said it was somehow important to getting your memories back."

"Something like this? How?"

"I don't know. You left a note with it, but you didn't say anything other than that it would help get your memories back."

Ed scratched his head. "Well, I have no idea. Can I have it?"

Winry put it in Ed's outstretched palm. "Yeah, here."

Ed looked at it and began tracing the design with his finger. "It looks so familiar… Hey, Winry, do you have a piece of paper?"

Winry blinked. "Yeah." She gave Ed some paper and a pencil. "What do you need it for?"

Ed began tracing the design on the paper. Winry and Al looked on with curiosity as the lines crossed over each other and created what looked like… a larger version of the pattern on the medallion.

"Um, Ed? Was there any point to that?"

"I don't know. I thought it would be easier to figure out if it were bigger. Let me trace Al's side out."

Instead of getting a new piece of paper, Ed traced his brother's pattern over his own. He was rather surprised to see the seemingly random designs turn into something familiar. It looked like a human, but it was incredibly mutilated.

"What is this?" Ed asked. Winry looked at it.

"I think… it's something you made…"

Al looked at Winry in confusion for a moment before clutching his head. An intense pain was making its way from his forehead through to the back of his head.

"Al? You okay?" Ed asked, looking at Al in concern.

"My head… It feels like it's going to explode…"

Winry stood up. "You're probably thinking too hard. Come on, you can sleep on the couch."

Al barely made it to the couch before it got worse. After a while, it overwhelmed him and he lost consciousness.

--------------

Ed sat quietly next to his brother as Winry brought over a blanket. "I don't know what's wrong with him, but it shouldn't be too bad. It's probably just a migraine."

"Yeah, but it came pretty quick, didn't it?"

"Yeah, but that's all I can think of right now. I haven't heard of any sickness where the very first symptom is a bad headache, or at least not any that Al could have gotten."

Ed looked at his brother once again. Al's face hadn't relaxed in unconsciousness. In fact, he seemed to be in even more pain asleep than he was in when he was awake. Then Ed realized something. He looked more closely at Al's face. He breathed a sigh of relief. Al wasn't in pain. He was thinking.

"Hey, Winry…"

"What?"

"I think Al's getting his memories back."

"Huh? How do you know that?"

"Look at his face. That's the one he makes when he's thinking, remember?"

Winry looked at Al. "Well, it's been so long since I actually saw him, but… you're right. So I guess we should just let him be, right?"

"Yeah, that's what I'm thinking. I'll call teacher and tell her we'll end up being a little late."

As Ed made the call, Winry stood by Al's side. His eyes fluttered open for a brief moment, and he weakly called out his brother's name. Winry kneeled down beside him and took Al's hand in hers. "Ed's calling your teacher right now. He'll be back in a moment."

"Winry… why does it hurt so much? I thought armor didn't feel pain…"

Winry didn't answer. "Just relax, Al. You'll be fine."

Al closed his eyes, and his hand fell out of Winry's grasp. Winry turned around to see Ed standing at the door. "Well, I called her, and she's fine with us being late. Were you talking with Al just now?"

"Yeah, he woke up for a minute. I'm positive it's because he's regaining his memories now."

Ed looked at his brother. "Why is it just him, though?"

Winry sat down at the table. "I don't know. You know, maybe you should get to a hotel. You'd probably be more comfortable, since I don't really have much room here."

"Right…"

-----------------

_Everything's spinning. I don't know where to look, or what to do. I'm lost. Brother, help me, please. I don't want to go through all of this. It's hard, so incredibly hard… Why did we choose to get rid of our memories? Why did we make sure we'd have a way to regain them? What… what can I do now? I don't even remember making the decision to get rid of our memories._

Al weakly opened his eyes. He could feel his brother nearby. Al looked over to see Ed sleeping on the floor, his head and arms resting on Al's bed. Al had seen Ed asleep many times, but this was the first time since losing their bodies that Ed had looked so peaceful.

_It's probably because he doesn't remember anything we went through._

Al closed his eyes again. His mind was still in the process of unlocking all of his memories. It was overwhelming, but at the same time it wasn't. Overall, it was a very confusing process, so Al didn't want to add to the confusion by trying to function as a normal person. The first memories returning, along with the puzzle of what they were looking at, had overwhelmed him enough to give him that headache, and he hadn't liked the pain at all.

Even when he was sleeping, the memories just continued to come. _I guess five years of never sleeping will give you more to think about than you want._

He felt Ed's hand brush against his arm, and opened his eyes to see Ed move over to his own bed. "Brother…" he said quietly.

"Al? Are you okay?"

"Somewhat. I'm… really confused. Everything's coming back so quickly that I don't really know what's going on."

Ed smiled. "Well, at least you're remembering."

"Yeah…" Al closed his eyes again. "Maybe you'll remember soon, too…"

---------------

"_I just figured it out."_

"_Figured what out?"_

"_A way to get out of the military for good, without having to run away."_

Al breathed a sigh of relief. His memories had completely returned.

He woke up to a knock on the door. He sat up and watched as Ed stumbled over to see who it was.

The person who had been knocking was none other than Roy Mustang. Ed stepped back to let him inside.

"What are you doing here, Colonel?" Al asked politely.

"I'm on my way to Southern Headquarters on some business. Since I heard you two were staying in Rush Valley for a while, I thought I'd stop by."

Al raised an eyebrow. That story wasn't exactly convincing. Maybe it would convince Ed, but Al knew the Colonel better now. Al laughed inwardly at Roy's poorly hidden concern. The only problem was whether or not this was actually Roy. Al didn't want Envy to find out that he had regained his memories.

"Oh, well, that's good timing, since- OW!" Al had walked over to face Roy, and he had tripped his brother in order to prevent any more speaking on his part.

Roy looked down at Ed. "I thought your bad luck streak ended after you left Central the first time."

_Bad luck streak…? Is he talking about all those times Ed tripped at the hotel?_ Al decided to do one more test, just to be sure. "What kind of business do you have in the south?" he asked innocently.

Roy paused for a moment. "You're testing me, aren't you?"

"Um…"

Roy smiled. "All right, then. Maybe this will convince you that it's me," he continued, pulling up his sleeve and showing a deep cut on his arm. "If I were Envy, that wouldn't be there, would it?"

"Huh?" Ed asked.

"Nothing," Al replied. "You'll understand when you remember it."

Roy looked from Ed to Al. "You mean Fullmetal doesn't remember anything yet?"

"No, just me."

Ed continued to look confused. "Wait, who's Envy? And how the heck did you figure it out so quickly?"

"Maybe because you nearly blurted it out?" Al said in an irritated tone.

"Oh. But wait, how would that have mattered? Is there someone out there who looks like him?"

"Um… sure, let's go with that. Hey, Ed, why don't you go visit Winry?"

"What, right now? Is there something you don't want me to hear?"

Al shoved his brother out the door. "Just go, will you?"

Before Ed could protest, Al pushed some money into Ed's hand, gave him his coat, slammed the door shut and locked it. Roy sat down.

"This is unexpected. I thought that you would regain your memories at the same time."

"Yeah, so did we," Al replied, sitting down on the other bed.

"Of course, this could work to our advantage."

Al blinked. "What, you mean it's a good thing he doesn't remember?"

"Exactly. Since you're not a part of the military, they can't investigate you without drawing suspicion from regular civilians and the lower ranks of the military. You're free to do what you wish. However, your brother, who is still under the surveillance of the military, is blissfully unaware of the truth."

Al caught on pretty quickly to Roy's point. "Yeah, but what can I do? I don't have any authority in the military."

"That's true. Oh well, we'll find some way around that."

Al remembered something he had heard from Scar when Ed had been unconscious. _"My brother left me some sort of clue to this mystery, but of course you don't know what I'm talking about, so just forget it."_

"What about Scar?" he asked in a low voice.

Roy was caught off guard. "What, you mean ask Scar for help?"

"When we met him in East City last week, he mentioned something about his brother leaving a clue to this mystery. I didn't know what he meant back then, but now…"

"You think Scar knows about this case?"

Al nodded. "When we went to the north after that whole incident under the city, Scar had been somewhere nearby. Only for a short period of time, though, and then he left. When we were there, that's when we found out about the way to regain our bodies, and we left shortly after Major General Armstrong tricked General Raven into giving us information. We were going to report to you, but we felt that we had to regain our bodies first, and then that whole mess happened…"

"You got distracted. It's understandable. So, what is this information?"

Al was silent.

"Alphonse."

"Do you have a map of the country, by any chance?"

"No, not with me. Why?"

"Well, from what we figured out, this country was… it was created in order to be turned into a Philosopher's Stone."

"WHAT?" Roy stared at Al in disbelief.

"That's what I said. Back up north, we had a map, and we connected the points where large amounts of blood have been shed in this country, and it formed a circle not unlike the one in the fifth laboratory."

"That's… they created this country only for that purpose?"

"Yeah."

Roy seemed to be in shock for a moment, and then he shook his head. "It's worse than I thought. In this case, we could use all the help we can get."

Al caught on quickly to what Roy was saying. "That means…"

"Yes. If you can find Scar and get him as an ally, our job will be easier. Are you willing to do it?"

Al looked at the mess his brother had left on his bed. The silver watch stuck out from the folds of his clothes. "If I can find a way to do it without Ed knowing."

Roy thought about it for a moment. "Leave that to me."

-------------------

Ed had spent a moment in the hallway, debating whether or not to listen at the door to the conversation, when Winry had walked up to him. She stopped when she saw him staring at the door.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Colonel Mustang's in there with Al. I think they're talking about me."

"Yeah, probably."

"Damn it, just because he's fifteen again doesn't mean he has to be a jerk."

Winry bit her lip in order to prevent a laugh from coming out. "So he got all his memories back?"

"I guess so."

"Good. Now all we need to do is to get yours back."

"Yeah, and soon. It sucks to be kicked out of my own hotel room."

Just then, the door opened, and Al signaled for the two to come inside. As they sat in the room, Ed noticed a strange look on Al's face.

"What's going on?" Ed asked.

"It seems there's a terrorist organization nearby that's planning on hijacking a train. I need help with capturing the group and preventing any loss of life. Do you think you'd be able to help me?" Roy asked.

Ed looked around. "Um, yeah, I guess…"

"Good. We'll leave in the morning."


	8. Troublesome Developments

As soon as Ed and Roy had left, Al got on a train to East City. Once he was there, he walked quietly through the slums, trying to find a trace of Scar. It wasn't until he gave up that he saw someone familiar. Just as he began to walk back to the train station, he saw Scar walking toward him.

Al was surprised that Scar wasn't even bothering to hide from him. Considering everything that had happened during their last meeting, Scar being so obvious about things was surprising.

"What are you doing here?" Scar asked.

"I… wanted to ask you something."

"Like what?"

Al shifted uncomfortably for a moment, trying to think of a good way to phrase the questions in his mind. Finally, he decided to start at the beginning. "I regained my memory."

"I see. So you hate me again."

"No. I know I should, but for some reason, I can't."

"Then why are you here?"

"Brother joined the military again. He's trying to fight them without them knowing, but he doesn't remember anything. And…"

"What?"

"We… not Ed, because he doesn't know about all this, but Colonel Mustang and I… were wondering if you'd be our ally in this fight."

"Whom are you fighting against?"

"Who do you think we're fighting against? As far as I know, it hasn't changed since that day under Central."

It was quiet for a while. "Don't expect me to cooperate with Mustang. However, there are some things you should know if you want to win this fight."

"Then you'll help?"

"Yes. However, this sharing of information goes both ways."

"Right."

Scar looked around. "We shouldn't stay here."

Al quietly followed Scar through the city to a hidden room in the slums, far away from where the fight with Kimblee had taken place. Once Al had shared his side of the story, Scar stood up.

"I need to get something. Stay here."

"Huh? Sure…"

Al sat patiently in the room as he waited for Scar to return. After a while, he heard footsteps, and he looked outside. Once he saw who was out there, he immediately pulled his head away from the window and looked for another exit. Envy was walking down the alley, accompanied by a strange-looking Gluttony. Al soon found a hole in the opposite wall, large enough for him to crawl through. He checked the other side to be sure it would be safe and ducked into the next room.

It was dark in that room, and Al shivered from the cold. He wanted to leave, but he was afraid that he wouldn't be able to find Scar again if he did. He sat in the room for what felt like an eternity before he heard footsteps. He risked a glance out through the hole. It was Scar.

Scar walked directly to the hole and sat down right next to it. "Why are you hiding?"

"I saw Envy just now. And Gluttony. I don't think they saw me, though."

"I see. Here," Scar continued, pushing some papers through the hole to Al. "That's everything we know right now. You can give that to Mustang if you want. Just be sure it doesn't fall into enemy hands."

"Yeah." Al quickly read the contents of the papers, memorizing as much as he could before leaving the dark room he was hiding in. Before he left, he folded the papers and tied them around the medallion, which hung on a chain around his neck. He pulled his shirt over the medallion and buttoned his jacket up as high as it would go without suffocating him.

He walked cautiously through the streets of East City, watching for any signs of the homunculi. He stopped when he heard a familiar voice from behind him. He turned around to see Ran Fan standing behind him.

"You seem familiar somehow," said Ran Fan as she stood before Al, her arms crossed. Al noticed that she had indeed gotten automail installed in six months. He smiled.

"It's me," he said weakly. "Alphonse."

She raised an eyebrow. "Really? This is your true body?"

"Yeah."

"You need to gain some weight."

"I know. Anyway, what are you doing here?"

"We were about to head to Central to find you two. What has happened?"

"Ah… it's a long story."

"Then you can tell us on the way to meet your brother."

Al paused. "About that… he doesn't remember anything. Everything from the past five years is gone."

"I see," Ran Fan muttered. "This is not good."

Al shook his head. "Actually, we're working it out to our advantage. Now Ed can gather information without being looked at with suspicion. I can too, since nobody knows that I regained my memories."

"I see. Then have you found any useful information?"

"Some. I just spoke with Scar."

"That man?" she asked. "You're allied with him now?"

"He has the same goal that we do," Al muttered. "Besides, we need all the help we can get."

-----------------

Before Al had time to react, the two found themselves surrounded by what Al felt like was the entire military. Ran Fan managed to disappear, but Al didn't get much further than a couple of blocks before he was brought down by a group of soldiers.

Al struggled as they tried to restrain him. He came close to breaking free several times before Envy walked up to him and leaned in close to his face. He was in the form of a soldier, but Al recognized him.

"So, you know who I am now. This is quite a problem, isn't it? I didn't expect you to be so rash."

Al wanted very much to punch Envy in the face, but he couldn't move his hands in that direction. Envy smirked. "You're under arrest for conspiring against the military and associating yourself with Scar. Don't try to resist, or your situation will become much, much worse."

Al continued to struggle, but then he remembered a certain threat and decided to give up. It wasn't worth Winry's life. Envy smiled as Al allowed the soldiers to restrain him. "Good. You really do have more sense than that pipsqueak."

----------------

After completing his work with the Colonel, Ed went to Central to meet up with his brother. The first thing he did when he got out of the train was head to a phone booth, but someone interrupted him before he could place a call.

"Mr. Elric, you've been given orders to report to the Fuhrer's office right away."

"Huh? What does he want?"

"I don't know. I was simply given orders to take you to headquarters immediately."

Upon arriving at the office, Ed was surprised to see that Bradley looked completely different from the last time he had seen him. He sat down cautiously, not wanting to say anything to piss off the older man.

"I thought I told you to stay away from regaining your memories."

"We did. Or at least, we tried."

"Then how is it that you regained them?"

"Huh? I don't know. It's just Al who…"

"Only your brother?"

Ed nodded. "Whatever we did, it only worked for him. I don't remember a thing."

Bradley smiled. "That's good. Now then, I have something I wish to discuss with you."

"Huh?"

"It seems that there are some people in the military who have been plotting a rebellion. They wish to overthrow the military and rule the country themselves."

"So they're like a terrorist group or something?"

"Not quite. They haven't used violence yet, but it's only a matter of time before they take things too far."

"Who are these people?"

"At the moment, the group consists of only a few people. However, they're spreading lies about the military in order to gain the trust of certain individuals, such as yourself."

"Me? Who are these people exactly?"

"The three that I know of are Colonel Mustang, Lieutenant Hawkeye, and one more, who is a rather recent addition to this group."

"Who?"

Bradley's eye narrowed, and his face became dead serious. "I think you know who." He stood up. "Come. I'll show you."

Ed followed the Fuhrer through the vast military headquarters to a small building that seemed to be a prison of some sort. Before they entered, Bradley turned to Ed once again. "I'm very sorry about this, but it's for the best."

"Huh?"

As they entered the building, Ed saw a familiar figure standing with ropes completely preventing any movement on his part, surrounded by three well-armed soldiers. He stared in shock at the figure, who looked straight at Ed with traces of fear in his eyes. "Al?"

There was silence in the room for a while. Ed curled his fists as he stared at his brother. "What's going on?"

"Alphonse has been arrested for plotting against the military. He has been spreading rumors about corruption in the higher ranks and has even worked willingly with a serial killer in order to overthrow us."

Ed stared dumbly at his brother. "Al, is that true? Are you really trying to do that?"

"Brother, it's not how he says it is. I swear I'd never do anything like that."

"Then why didn't you tell me what was going on?"

"How could I? You don't remember anything."

"Do you think that's my fault?"

"Brother…"

"Do you?" Ed could feel tears in his eyes. He didn't know what to do.

Al's eyes became cold as he faced his brother. "Yes, I do think it's your fault, because you're the one who put us into this situation in the first place."

"What are you talking about?"

"_You_ wanted to lose your memories. _You_ wanted to get out of the military so badly that you decided that we would give up everything we'd gained in the past five years."

"Al…"

"Brother, what's with you? Don't you even _want_ to help me?"

"How am I supposed to help you when I don't even know what I'm supposed to do? You didn't even tell me what you were going to do! You just kicked me out and talked about me behind my back!"

"We had to! Brother, please."

Ed stared at Al for a moment before turning away. "No, Al. Right now I don't even see _why_ I should help you."

"Brother…"

"I'm sorry, Al."

---------------

Ed was dead silent as he followed Bradley through headquarters. After a while, he simply stopped walking. His face was hidden.

"Is something wrong?"

"No."

"That's a blatant lie right there."

"What do you think is wrong? I just betrayed the only family I have left."

"Hmm? Betrayed? Why do you say that?"

"I didn't even try to stick up for him."

Ed felt a hand on his shoulder. "You did the right thing. Now that he's been found to be one of this group, we can help him."

"Really?"

"Yes. He'll have to try hard, but we'll get him back to normal."

_Somehow, I don't believe that,_ thought Ed as they went their separate ways.

-----------------

Al stared blankly through the window of his cell. After meeting Ed, his emotions had gotten the better of him, and he had spent the rest of the day in a state of depression. He hadn't moved an inch since he had been placed in the cell.

After a while, someone came in and began untying the ropes. Al didn't understand this gesture until the man left the cell, leaving a plate of food on the bed next to Al. Al looked at it and turned back to the window, wrapping his arms around his knees. He wanted to eat, but he couldn't convince himself to move.

Eventually, Al heard a door slam. He sat up and looked through the bars of his cell. The soldier guarding his cell had left. Al looked again at the food and decided to eat some of it. Once he had finished, he continued to stare through the window. He blinked as a shadow passed by the window.

Al stood up on his bed and looked through the window, trying to figure out where the shadow had come from. He didn't see anything, so he sat back down, just as a light flashed in the hallway.

Al watched in surprise as a hooded figure came down the hall and stopped at his cell. At first he thought it was Ed, but then he realized that whoever it was couldn't be his tiny brother. Al instinctively moved to a defensive stance as the figure easily transmuted the bars of the cell and stepped inside.

"Who are you?" Al asked. The figure reached up to his hood and pulled it back. Al gasped as he saw his father's face. "What…"

"Quiet. We don't have much time to get out of here."

Al stood numbly in front of his father. His body wasn't quite able to move. After a moment, Hohenheim gave up and grabbed Al's arm. "Come on, I'm not leaving my son in a situation like this."

"Ah, wait…"

"There's no time to waste. Do you really want to stay here like this?"

"No, but…"

"Then come on."

"They're holding Winry hostage!"

Hohenheim stopped. "Winry Rockbell?"

"Yeah. They'll kill her if I try anything drastic."

Hohenheim continued to drag Al through the empty courtyard. "Then we'll call this a kidnapping. Since you don't seem to want to come with me, then there's a lot of truth in that statement."

Al couldn't help but smile at that, and he became more willing to follow his father through Central to a rundown old building. Once they were there, Hohenheim used alchemy to block the entrances. Al watched silently as he watched his father work. Something seemed wrong to him.

"You don't need a circle either?" he asked.

"No, I don't. Are you hungry?"

"No, I'm fine. Um, what…"

"I heard from the Flame Alchemist that you were being kept prisoner. I also heard about your brother. Do you still have that medallion?"

Al reached under his shirt and pulled out the medallion. Somehow, miraculously, the papers had stayed attached. He pulled them off and gave the medallion to his father.

"So this is it. The key to his memories. Do you know where he is now?"

"No, I don't. The last time I saw him he was walking away with King Bradley."

"So he's been corrupted by _them_, has he?"

Al looked at his father with curiosity. "What are you doing here? Why are you helping me?"

"Why shouldn't I help my children?"

Al paused. "Even after leaving us after so long?" Al immediately regretted saying that. The look on his father's face showed him the answer. "Sorry."

"No… I'm sorry I left you for so long. I was trying to… I didn't expect for everything to go so badly for you."

It was quiet in the room for a while. Finally, Hohenheim stood up. "Get some rest. We'll figure this out in the morning."

Al nodded and curled up on the floor, watching his father through one eye. Hohenheim, assuming his son was asleep, walked up to Al and gently covered him with his jacket.


	9. Pain

Uh. Do I have any notes for this one? Um… no, not really… Enjoy.

-----------------

The next morning, Al and Hohenheim sat on the floor with the medallion between them.

"So how did you regain your own memories?"

Al began tracing the design on the medallion. "I… brother did it for me. He traced both sides of it onto one piece of paper, and it made a picture of… what we had made with human transmutation."

Hohenheim stared at the medallion. "Maybe… Here, trace it again."

"What, like how brother did it?"

"Yes, only when you do it… flip the medallion the other way."

Al did as he was told, drawing as neatly as he could. After a while, the drawings formed a familiar shape. Al stared at the armor in confusion. "But wouldn't he have to see this?"

"Not necessarily. I've dealt with something like this before. It should work just fine."

"How will we know, though?"

"You'll see in a couple of days."

-----------------

Ed followed the still nameless soldier down the hall. As soon as his brother had been reported as kidnapped, Ed had been brought in for questioning. Of course, the interrogation had yielded no results, and Ed was now being escorted back to his room.

"Who would want to kidnap Al?" he asked, more to himself than anything.

"Probably someone who's working against us, but don't worry. We'll find him soon and… what are you doing?"

Ed was leaning against the wall, clutching his head. "It…" Ed tried to say more, but the pain proved to be too great and he collapsed on the ground.

"Hey, what's wrong?" the soldier asked. "Hey!"

When Ed didn't respond, the soldier stood up and cursed. "Shit." He ran to the end of the hall and got someone's attention. The soldier walked up to him with some confusion.

"Something wrong?"

"Call an ambulance. Now."

The confused soldier looked at the unconscious boy in the hallway and immediately ran off to get help. Ed groaned as he shifted his position. The nameless soldier (whose identity you should know by now) placed a hand on Ed's forehead and cursed again. "Why did you have to get sick right now?"

----------------

Ed could hear voices around him, but he couldn't understand what they said. He tried to see what was going on, but something was covering his eyes. His limbs felt heavy.

"Al…" he muttered weakly. He felt a hand on his arm. It wasn't his brother's. Armor wasn't warm.

"Your brother isn't here, remember?" he heard a voice say. "I'm sorry, but you'll have to get through this on your own."

Ed groaned and closed his eyes again. His mind was racing, but he couldn't quite keep up with it.

A few days passed like this, with Ed occasionally trying to sit up or just move his hand. He wanted to see if it was really a flesh hand. Whenever he tried to move, though, someone gently pushed him down.

Finally, the last memory returned to Ed, and he felt a wave of anguish as he realized just how harsh he had been to his brother. He felt tears run down his face. He fell asleep.

That night, a shadow passed over his bed, and Ed weakly opened his eyes. He was lying on his side, and the cloth had fallen from his face. Ed looked to see whom it was standing over him, but before he could, a hand gently placed the damp cloth back over his eyes. Ed tried to move, but his body wouldn't respond.

"Who's there?" he asked weakly. The only response he got was a piece of cloth in his mouth. Ed began to panic. Someone was kidnapping him. He tried even harder to move, but he only moved two inches. His kidnapper brought his hands together and tied them with a rope. Then whoever it was took some cloth and tied it over his mouth and eyes. All Ed could do was wait and see where this person was taking him.

He fell asleep on the way.

-----------------

When Ed woke up, he was still very weak, but he could have moved if he hadn't been tied down. He looked around the room. He was still unable to speak, but he could at least see. Someone was sitting next to him. It was Al.

When Al saw that his brother was awake, he smiled and waved to someone that Ed couldn't see. "Are you okay, brother?"

"Mmmph."

"Oh, right, sorry." Al pulled the cloth away from his brother's face.

"No, I'm not okay. What's going on, Al?"

"We had to get you away from the military so that you wouldn't accidentally reveal that you regained your memories."

"Wait, how…"

"I did it for you. I had some help, though."

"Who helped you?"

Al looked behind him as someone walked up to the two. He sat next to Al and looked straight into Ed's eyes. "I did."

------------------

If Ed's hands hadn't been restrained, he would have punched his father straight in the face. "What the hell are you doing here?" he asked angrily. Hohenheim blinked and remained silent.

"He's on our side, brother. He already talked to Colonel Mustang and everything."

"That doesn't explain anything. Why am I tied up like this if you're helping us?"

"Because we were trying to avoid suspicion from the military. Or at least, putting suspicion on you. The only way to do that was to… well… kidnap you."

"Great. Then why am I still tied up? The military can't see us here, can they?"

"No, they can't."

"Then?"

"There's a lot we need to talk about. This is just so that we can be sure you'll listen."

"Why should I listen to him?" Ed asked, glaring at his father.

"Because he cares about his family, brother."

"Yeah, right."

Al gave an aggravated sigh and gagged his brother once again. "Look, I'm not letting you go until you listen. Please, brother. At least give him a chance."

Ed tried to argue through the gag, but he stopped when he saw just how serious Al was. He quietly gave up and looked expectantly at Hohenheim, who was staring in surprise at Al.

"Right. Well," Hohenheim began. "The reason I left, and something I never wanted you to know about, is this. I'm… not exactly what you could call human."

"Mmm?" Ed asked, forgetting that he couldn't speak. Al looked in surprise at their father.

"What do you mean?"

Hohenheim paused. "You know of that place under Central, right?"

Ed and Al nodded. "And that man called Father, right?"

"Yes. In some way, I'm like him."

Both brothers stared at their father in surprise. "Wait… like him? You mean like with the philosopher's stone?"

"That's right."

"But… how is that the reason for you leaving?"

"I didn't… I didn't want to watch you die."

"Mmmm?" Ed asked.

"What?" Hohenheim pulled off the gag.

"You left us for that?"

"Yes."

"That's stupid."

"Brother!"

"And why is it stupid, Edward?"

"With all the time you spent away, you missed out on the most important years of our lives. That and your plan didn't exactly work out the way it was supposed to."

Hohenheim's eyes were filled with pain. "That's true. I never meant for your lives to be ruined like that."

"Well, so much for that."

Hohenheim stood up and walked out of the room. Al watched him leave before turning to his brother. "Why did you have to be so harsh, brother? It's not like he wanted for us to go through all that."

"I know, but I can't just go from hating him to being all sad for him because his life's so hard. He didn't go through what we went through."

"Brother, he used to be a normal human."

"Eh?"

"Earlier, when you were asleep… he told me that he'd made a mistake that caused him to have to live the way he does now. Unless I'm way off, that means he used to be somewhat normal, like us."

"Al…"

"And besides, he just wanted to live happily with us. What's wrong with that?"

Ed watched as his brother walked off as well. He lay staring at the ceiling for a long time, not knowing what to think.

-----------------

"_What would a bastard understand about that?"_

"_I do understand."_

Ed weakly opened his eyes and looked around. He was alone in the room once again.

_He wanted to live happily with us… We wanted to live happily with mom but we failed… He failed too…_

_He really does understand…_

Ed felt tears in his eyes. _Why am I crying?_

He blinked the tears away as Hohenheim entered the room. He kneeled down next to his son and began untying him.

"When was the last time you ate?" he asked as Ed sat up.

"I don't really know… maybe at the hospital?"

"Can you stand?"

"I think so."

Ed weakly pushed himself to his feet and tried walking. His legs were shaky, but he could walk. Hohenheim had him sit on a nearby chair.

"About yesterday…" Ed began.

"Hmm?"

"I'm sorry."

"You don't need to be. I made a big mistake when I left you in the first place. If anyone needs to apologize, it should be me. I did very poorly as a father."

"Why don't we just call it even then?" Ed asked, trying to force a smile.

"Very well."

"Where's Al?"

"He's getting some food. He should be back soon."

-----------------

Once they had eaten, Ed turned to his father once more. "So you know what they're planning?"

Hohenheim nodded. "As far as this country is concerned, I know what they're planning to do with it."

"Back then… you knew when we were kids, didn't you?"

"I did."

"Then…" Ed stopped himself and looked at the doorway. Before anyone could move, he was at the door, staring down the alley. Immediately he ducked back into the building and faced the others.

"Brother, what's wrong?"

"The military's here. King Bradley too."

"Already? How did they find us so quickly?"

Hohenheim had grabbed a rope and was now using it to bind Ed's hands. "This isn't good. Alphonse, take your brother and get away from here. I'll distract them for a while, so get as far away as you can."

"Father…"

"Go. As long as Ed acts like he doesn't want to be here, they shouldn't put too much suspicion on him."

"What about me?" Al asked.

"Trust me. You'll be fine."

Al nodded and grabbed his brother's arm. "Come on, let's go."

They made their way to the rear end of the building as Hohenheim stood in the near-empty room. Ed looked back to see his father standing tall, watching his children leave him for what Ed hoped wouldn't be the last time.

They ran through the alleys as fast as they could until they came to a dead end. Al quickly used alchemy to dissolve the wall and continued running, not realizing until it was too late that he had brought the two of them into a trap.

They were completely surrounded by soldiers. The alley behind them was the only place that wasn't filled with armed men. Al stopped running, holding his brother's arm as tightly as he could.

"Al…"

"Damn it."

"You know we can't fight, don't you?"

"I know, but…" Al had been walking backward, his brother's arm still held tightly in his hand. "There has to be something… Brother, help me…"

Ed was conflicted for a moment. To him, the logical thing to do was to go with the military, but Al was against it. Just as he was about to make a decision, someone grabbed the back of his shirt and pulled him back into a side alley. He struggled to get away, but whoever had him was strong.

Finally, the person stopped and turned to face Ed. It was Scar. He pushed Ed against the wall and looked straight into his eyes for a moment before turning his head away. "I'm sorry."

Before Ed could understand what Scar meant, he felt his right side erupt in pain. He screamed and fell to the ground.

-----------------

Al managed to find his brother very quickly, but he stopped short when he saw Scar wiping his hand off on his shirt. Ed was on the ground, his entire body covered in blood.

"Brother!" Al cried as he ran up to Ed. "What the hell did you do to him?"

Scar didn't respond. Instead, he ran off. Al wanted to go after him, but as he was about to run after the Ishbalan, he was stopped. Two soldiers had grabbed his arms and were trying very hard to keep Al from running after Scar.

"Let me go!"

"No!"

"Why not? He killed my brother! He… brother…" Al went limp, and the soldiers let go of his arms. Al began sobbing as he held Ed's head in his lap. "Edward…"

Just then, he felt someone pulling him away from his brother. Al struggled weakly as the person pushed him against a wall. "Let me go."

"No," Envy replied. "Not until you stop being an idiot."

"He's dead."

"No he's not. He's close to being dead, but he isn't dead."

Al watched numbly as two paramedics gently moved Ed to a stretcher and carried him away. Envy let him go and began walking away. "That stinking Ishbalan failed again."


	10. A New Life

Hmmm… Is this what we call an update? No, it's all a blatant lie. Go jump off a cliff if you want to read more. It won't make the story come out faster, but it'll make me feel good that people actually want to read this. D

--------------

"You understand now, right? We can't afford having you two running loose and getting into so much danger."

"I understand."

"And you also realize that if you attempt to resist again we'll have to act."

"Yes."

"Are you going to try anything if we leave you in here on your own?"

"No. I won't."

"Good."

Ed opened his eyes just as Envy was leaving the room. He looked down to see Al sitting quietly in a chair next to him. "Brother… I'm sorry… Please, don't die…"

Ed smiled as he looked at his younger brother. "Don't worry, Al. I won't."

Al started and almost tackled his brother with a hug before remembering that Ed was injured. "Brother…"

"So I'm in this place again, huh?" Ed looked at the ceiling. His neck stung as he moved it, but it was a lesser pain than the rest of his right side felt. "It's a good thing Scar came when he did."

"What? Brother, he tried to kill you!"

"No he didn't. If he had wanted me dead, I would be dead now."

"Then why did he do this to you?!"

"It threw suspicion away from us. Al, do you think Envy would be letting us talk to each other in private if Scar hadn't done that?"

"No, but…"

"Wounds heal, Al. Maybe it was a little drastic, but at least now I can still move freely. Unless…"

"No, Envy doesn't know about that. It's a family secret."

"Speaking of which, what happened to… him?"

"I don't know. I know they caught him, but I don't know where he is."

"I see." Ed shifted on the bed, wincing slightly as his side ached. "Al… I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"Back then, when you were arrested. I… I shouldn't have said any of that. I should have stuck up for you."

"No, it's okay. If you had, we'd both be under suspicion right now. And besides, you weren't really you back then."

"No, I was me, just a different me."

"Even so, it wasn't the right you."

"Al…"

"What?"

"Sorry I worried you," Ed whispered as the door opened. Envy walked up to the two and looked at Al.

"Seems this kid's popular today. Think you can handle letting someone else visit for a while?"

Al nodded and left the room. Envy stood by Ed's side for a moment before speaking. "It's Mustang."

Ed thought very quickly about what this meant. "Isn't he one of those people who are trying to overthrow the military?"

"Yes."

"Then why do I have to talk to him?"

"Because he asked, and because I want you to do something."

"What?"

"He trusts you. See if you can get him to say anything that will help us make a case against him."

Ed watched as Envy left and Roy came in._ This'll be interesting._

----------------

The room was silent for a long time. Finally, Roy spoke.

"Fullmetal?"

"Hmm?"

"Never mind."

"What?"

"It's something only your sixteen-year-old self can answer."

"Then ask away."

"No, you can't…" Roy trailed off and began to smile. "You really shouldn't blurt things out like that."

"Oh well. Too late now."

"Of course it is. Anyway, Fullmetal. About Scar."

"Yeah?"

"Do you think we can consider him as an ally?"

"Yeah."

Roy started at this easy answer. "But-"

"He didn't try to kill me, Colonel. He just did enough to put me out of action for a while. The enemy will see that as an advantage, won't they?"

"It _is_ an advantage for them."

"Yeah, but it's better that I'm just out of it for a few weeks than both me and Al being out for good."

"What do you mean?"

Ed sighed in aggravation. "Since I was just attacked by Scar, the military now believes two things."

"Which are?"

"One, that I'm still unsure of what I want to do, so much that Envy thinks I can easily spy on you and get information to bring you down."

"And?"

"Two, that Scar won't cooperate with us, which splits their enemies into two groups, which in turn means that we're enemies with each other, which means that we may end up fighting against the wrong people."

Roy stared incredulously at Ed for a moment. Then he laughed. "That… I'm impressed, Fullmetal. You've matured."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. So, what now?"

"You need to recover."

"And then?"

"I'll give you some information that you can give to Envy."

Ed smiled and watched as Roy walked to the doorway. Before he got there, the Colonel turned around. "By the way, how did meeting your father go?"

Ed became slightly more serious. "Fine."

"Still hate him?"

Ed stared at the ceiling for a while. "Not so much anymore."

"Good, because we'll need his help too."

"But wait, Al said they caught him."

"That doesn't mean he can't do anything to help." Roy looked over his shoulder before speaking again. "At any rate, it's good that you two worked things out. It'll be good for you to have a father figure in your life again."

"Eh? Wait, what are you getting at?"

"Nothing, nothing. I have to go now, but it's good to see you alive."

"Yeah, sure."

Once Roy was gone, Envy came in again. "Did he say anything?"

"No, not really. He kept asking about my father."

"Why?"

"Don't know."

"That man… It's good we found him. If we hadn't, he could have destroyed everything the military stands for."

Ed decided to test Envy. "Wait a minute. Why is it that everyone I've met in the past couple months is bad? Do I really have that bad of luck?"

"Yeah, I'd say you do. I mean look at you. You just got ripped apart by a serial killer! Speaking of which," Envy continued, sitting down right next to Ed. "Did he say anything to you?"

Ed shook his head. "Why would he?"

"How should I know? I just think it's suspicious that he'd save your life and then try to kill you a few weeks later."

"Well maybe it's because I wasn't a part of the military back then."

"You're an idiot."

"What?"

Envy stood up and walked to the door. "Don't strain yourself."

--------------

Ed had quite a few visitors over the next few days, but he didn't always know they were there. Other than the first day of consciousness, Ed was rarely awake. When he was awake, he barely spoke. He had said what needed to be said to his brother and the Colonel, and that was good enough for him.

During one of these visits, Ed woke up halfway through, but he kept his eyes closed. He heard voices, two voices that belonged to the homunculi he had seen most often. They were talking about him.

"Has he admitted to regaining his memory?"

"No, and from the way he's been acting, it's doubtful that he remembers anything. The problem is we can't know for sure until he's recovered a fair amount. I've checked with some professionals, and they agree that being attacked by someone he once trusted could have had some very negative effects on his mind."

_So I'm crazy now?_ Ed thought.

"Of course it will. He's only a child, after all." There was a pause. "Perhaps it would be better if we kept an eye on him for a while. He also needs to be around people who aren't as involved in this."

"What do you have in mind?"

There was another pause. Ed decided to wait until after the homunculi had revealed their plans for him to wake up, even though he'd figure it out eventually if he didn't.

"He can stay with me for a while. I know my son would be happy to meet his hero again."

_Oh, that's not so bad…_

Ed waited another moment or two before opening his eyes. Envy looked at him and walked out of the room. Wrath sat down next to him with a smile.

"How's your side today?"

"Okay, I guess…"

"Any improvement?"

"Yeah, some."

"Good, good. Now then, I have something to discuss with you."

"What about?"

King Bradley looked at the window for a moment before speaking. "There are those of us in the military who are greatly concerned about the situation at the moment. You have been severely injured by Scar, and the people whom you trust have all turned against you. Since Scar is still on the loose, there is a high possibility of him coming after you again unless you are placed under military supervision."

Ed nodded, not knowing what else to do. Bradley smiled and continued. "But considering what you've been through in the past few weeks, we've decided that it would be best if you took some time off, away from the military."

"Okay…"

"However, it would be impractical to send you back to your hometown with the country in this situation. We cannot spare very many men at the moment. Because of all this, we have come to the conclusion that it would be best for you to stay with my family once you've recovered sufficiently. Does that sound all right to you?"

Ed paused for a moment before agreeing.

"Good. I'll see you when you've healed."

"Yeah…"

--------------

The next morning, he heard voices nearby. Ed looked cautiously for the source of the voices. He saw Roy speaking with a doctor. Both of them looked concerned. Roy noticed Ed was awake and immediately got rid of his frown, but there was still a worrisome emotion behind his eyes. The doctor left.

"Morning, Fullmetal."

"Hey."

Roy sat down and observed Ed for a moment before speaking. "How's your arm today?"

"It's fine. It hurts some, but not much."

"That's good. Listen…"

"What?"

Roy was silent for a while. He continuously cast nervous glances at Ed's right side. After a moment, Ed had had enough.

"What is it? Did something happen with my side?"

"There's… a chance of that."

"What?"

"Somehow, your arm got infected in the past week or so. There's a chance that it could spread to the rest of your wounds and maybe kill you."

Ed was silent. Roy spoke again. "Of course, that's not a definite fact. There's still a lot they can do to prevent it, but it'll be painful."

"You're nervous, aren't you?"

Roy gave a sad smile. "That's right. Worst-case scenario is that they'd have to amputate your arm. I'd hate to see you have gone through all that just to lose it again."

Ed heard footsteps and became cautious. "Gone through what?" he asked, his eyes giving Roy a warning.

Thankfully, Roy caught on quickly. "Ah, sorry, you don't remember…"

The door opened, and Envy came in. He looked around the room for a moment before walking up to the bedside. He nodded at Roy, who said his farewell to Ed and walked out of the room.

"He say anything yet?"

"No, not really… he did say something about me going through a lot, but I don't remember what he's talking about."

"Damn. He's smarter than I thought. Unless you're lying to me."

"Why would I lie? He's the one who lied first."_ Please don't say you've figured it out._

Envy laughed. "You know, I think I like you better like this. Much easier to handle."

"What?"

"Nothing."

_Damn Envy… well, at least he doesn't know I remember him._

Envy turned to walk out, but turned around before he reached the door. "Oh, by the way, you're going to move in with the Fuhrer after you get surgery on your arm."

"Surgery?"

"To get rid of the infection."

"Yeah, but surgery?"

"It's pretty deep in there."

"But why didn't I know earlier?"

"You're only eleven. It's hard to tell if you'd make the right decision so we're deciding for you."

"I would have made the right decision."

"Then we don't have a problem, unless you'd rather give it up and die."

"No…"

"Good. Now get rest. They planned it for tomorrow."

"Tomorrow? That soon?"

"What are you complaining about? The sooner they do it the easier it'll be. I thought even you would know something like that."

_Damn, I hate it when he's right_. "Oh, right."

Envy looked Ed over once more and left the room, leaving Ed to look at his bandaged body for a while. "Infected, huh? I bet you didn't expect this, Scar."

----------------

Ed was still in a daze from the anesthesia as he arrived at the Fuhrer's home. Luckily, Bradley had the sense to wait to introduce Ed to his family until Ed had recovered enough so that he could actually function as a normal person, or as normal as someone in Ed's situation could possibly act. He led Ed through the house and showed him where he would be staying.

Ed looked around at his new room for several minutes before realizing he needed to sleep. He walked to the bed and saw that there was a neat little pile on his pillow. Ed looked at it for a moment, trying to figure out why this was on his bed. Eventually, the puzzle was too much for him and he placed it on the floor and fell on the bed, not even bothering to shift onto his back to prevent an open wound.

When Ed woke up, it was late afternoon. He hadn't moved an inch from how he fell, and his arm ached. Ed sat up and looked around. His senses had become much sharper, but he was still tired and sore. He vaguely remembered the bundle and picked it up.

Inside the bundle was a note addressed to Ed. It was a welcome note from Selim. Ed read it with a half smile on his face before realizing just how difficult his life would be. Maybe not meeting Selim first thing was a very good thing. Now he'd have time to prepare.

Ed looked at the bundle. It consisted of some clothes and a few books. The books were the kind Ed had read when he was younger, mostly science fiction. He set the books aside and looked around his new room for a while before the door opened and Selim entered with his father.

Bradley did little other than greet Ed and introduce his son before leaving, but Selim stood in the doorway, a mixture of awe and conflict on his face. Finally, he spoke up. "You… don't remember me, right?"

Ed shook his head. "No."

It was quiet in the room for a while. Then Selim smiled and pointed at Ed's hair. "You might want to fix that before dinner."

Ed reached up to his head and found that most of his hair was going in the wrong direction. "Yeah, I probably should."

Ed got ready as he listened to Selim's rambles. Eventually he began speaking about alchemy.

"I want to get as good at alchemy as you are."

"As good as me?" Ed asked, remembering a similar conversation he'd had with the boy during their first meeting.

"Yeah, I want to be able to help father!"

Ed finished dressing and looked at Selim. "That's a good thing to want," he said, realizing that any criticism would lead to suspicion.

The first evening was a pleasant one, but Ed realized that he couldn't let his guard down. If he wanted to keep his secret, he'd have to pay attention to everything anyone said and be sure to avoid saying anything stupid. The fact that Selim began begging him to teach him alchemy didn't help the situation at all.

---------------

yay for updating! D


	11. Attack

Yeah, a fairly quick update. Don't get used to it, because it won't happen much.

----------------

As Ed was adjusting to his new life with the Fuhrer, Al was adjusting to a new life of his own. He had been sent to live with Roy for reasons unknown to them both, and they were using this opportunity to plan a resistance of some sort. War was brewing up north and it was only a matter of time before a large-scale conflict broke out. Al hoped greatly that Olivier would be able to prevent it, but he couldn't put that much faith in it. Roy agreed with him, but neither would be able to do anything as long as the homunculi were watching them. All they could do was plan a way to get Ed away from Wrath.

During their previous travels, Ed and Al had met a small group of terrorists who had disbanded with 'aid' from the brothers. Of course, they would have been arrested if it hadn't been for the two, so the group owed Ed and Al a favor. Al decided that it would be the perfect time to get paid back.

He arranged a meeting with them in a park and went out one day to meet them with Roy. As they walked through the city, Al noticed someone familiar following them. As they arrived at the meeting place, Al turned around to face the man.

"You're here," he said.

"I am. What happened to your armor?"

"It's gone. For good."

"I see. So, what can we do for you?"

They walked through the park to a hidden area in the trees before Al spoke. "If I remember correctly, your group specializes in kidnappings, right?"

"That's right. Who are you after?"

"My brother."

"Him? Why isn't he with you?"

"It's a long story."

"I get it. So where is he?"

Al let out a sigh before explaining the general situation. When he finished, the man scratched his head. "From the Fuhrer himself, eh? That's going to be tough."

"Can you do it?"

"Yeah, we can do it, but only if we go for the Fuhrer's kid too."

"Selim? Why?"

"Because it makes more sense to kidnap him, doesn't it? And if we get them together, it'll just be that much easier."

Al nodded. "Okay, that works. We'll just let him go back later."

"That might not be the best idea, but if that's what you want to do, go right ahead. Right," the man said as he stood up. "Do we have a time limit?"

"The sooner the better," said Roy.

"Yeah, okay. We'll keep you updated."

"Thanks," Al said.

----------------

Ed and Selim sat in the backseat of a car on the way to Central library. Ed had finally gotten used to hiding his true identity, and was chatting amicably with Selim as they drove through the city until the car suddenly stopped. Ed looked up at the front and immediately pushed Selim to the floor of the car and ducked, just as the windshield shattered from the impact of gunshots.

"Are you okay?" he asked Selim as he looked up at the front of the car. The driver and the other person in the front had been knocked unconscious, and the two were on their own.

Selim nodded, but Ed could tell he was terrified. _Poor kid's probably never been in a situation like this before,_ Ed thought as he tried to assess the situation. Several men were walking up to the car, each armed with several guns. Ed struggled to come up with a plan, but anything he could do would risk revealing that he indeed remembered everything.

"What's going on?" Selim asked.

"I… I think they're coming after you."

Selim didn't seem surprised, but he was still scared. Ed decided it was time to act. He looked around and brought his hands together. "Okay, when I say now, go through that door and run as fast as you can. They won't shoot you because you're a valuable life to them, but if you let them catch you, it'll be hard to get you back, got it?"

Selim nodded and positioned himself to run through the door. Ed looked at the men again and placed his hands on the floor of the car. "Now!"

The metal flew up and blocked the windows, and the two boys ran from the car down the street. Ed didn't notice a problem until it was too late. He stopped and grabbed Selim's arm, just as the street in front of them went up in a massive fiery explosion. Both boys were thrown back.

Ed got to his feet first and pulled Selim upright. He looked around and noted that they were almost completely surrounded by armed men, none of which worked for the military.

"Just surrender and we'll go easy on you," one of them said. Something told Ed this person was lying, and he decided to go with that instinct. He brought his hands together and placed them on the ground as some soldiers came running, creating a wall that effectively imprisoned the terrorists.

Before the soldiers got to the two boys, Ed felt the ground move beneath his feet, and saw that he had brought them both onto a well-hidden net. "Ah, shit…" In moments the two were trapped.

Another explosion went off, sending a chunk of the car flying in their direction. Ed brought his hands together again and held his right arm out in front of him, forgetting momentarily that he no longer had automail. The metal hit his hand with more force than Ed had expected, and he could barely transmute it before his arm crumpled from the impact. He let out a cry of pain and fell back, cradling his arm.

He managed to come to his senses and transmute the net that held them, and they dropped to the ground. Just then, another explosion went off, this time sending shrapnel in the boys' direction. Ed tried to shield Selim, but he had very little luck. Selim fell to the ground.

---------------

Roy watched from a nearby building as the two boys were rendered helpless and decided that he needed to step in before things got out of hand. He ran outside, grabbed Ed by the arm, and pushed him to walk as he picked up the unconscious Selim. A quick check showed that Selim was seriously injured, and Roy decided that this unwelcome turn of events was possibly the worst situation he had been in since Ed and Al had regained their bodies.

He brought the two to his car, which was parked nearby, and drove through the city. Ed managed to get some meaningful words out as Roy drove. "What's going on?"

"We were trying to get you away from the Fuhrer, but evidently another terrorist group had been planning the same thing, only in a more violent way."

"Why did you have to drag him into it?" Ed asked, gesturing to Selim.

"It was the only way we could do it. We were going to let him go as soon as we got you, but then everything went to hell. There wasn't any violence involved in our plan either, other than knocking out the bodyguards."

Ed groaned and looked at his arm. "Doesn't seem like this arm's having much luck."

"Relax, Fullmetal. We're almost to a hospital."

---------------

After Ed had been treated and been deemed fit to leave the hospital, Roy found himself sitting next to the young alchemist in the waiting room. Selim was still being treated, and soldiers were milling about the hospital. After a while, Ed fell asleep, unknowingly resting his head against the Colonel's shoulder. Roy shifted his arm and let Ed sleep.

He spent a while answering questions about the attack. He unconsciously ran his fingers through Ed's hair as he answered the usual questions: Who planned this? Were you involved? Could you see any of their faces? How many were there? What kind of weapons did they use?

After a while, they left him alone, and Roy sat in the room, alone with Ed and the receptionist. He pulled off his jacket and covered Ed with it, being careful not to upset Ed's broken limb. There was dead silence in the room as Roy waited to hear about Selim. He began to drift off, but then a voice brought him back to reality.

"You're too soft," said Bradley, looking down at Roy and Ed. "You could easily have taken both of them and treated them in secret, leaving the rest of us under the impression that the two had died in one of the multiple explosions that killed several soldiers. My son would have had a higher chance of dying, but you would have had this one. Instead you chose to take them here. Not only have you revealed your plans, but you've revealed that this boy has regained his memory."

Roy glared at Wrath. "Do you really think I could have done that?"

"Of course not. Like I said, you're too soft. Now go home. We'll discuss this matter further tomorrow."

Roy gently moved away from Ed and left the room without a backward glance. He was composed on the outside, but he was fuming on the inside. Everything they had planned had gone wrong.

It wasn't until he had gotten halfway home that he realized he had forgotten his jacket.

---------------

Ed woke up just as Roy was leaving. He watched as the Colonel walked through the hospital doors and closed his eyes again. He wondered briefly why Roy wasn't wearing his jacket before remembering everything that had happened. He sat up and looked around. He was alone in the waiting room.

Ed noticed the jacket Roy had forgotten was draped around his shoulders. Ed pulled it closer and tried to think. Just then, Bradley came walking up to Ed with a smile on his face. Despite himself, Ed felt relief.

"Are you doing all right?" Bradley asked. Ed nodded. Bradley smiled again. "That's good. I have to thank you for protecting my son. Thanks to you, he'll be just fine."

"That's good…"

All of a sudden, Bradley's face turned serious. "However, there is something I would like to know."

"What is it?"

"Have you regained any of your memories?"

Before he could stop himself, Ed found himself blurting out an affirmative. "Yes."

Bradley blinked. Evidently he hadn't been expecting that answer. Ed decided to continue. "I remember everything up to when I turned thirteen."

"Thirteen, eh? That would be about two years of your memory, wouldn't it?"

"Yes, sir."

"And you remember nothing after that?"

"No, not really." Ed was surprised at how easily he could lie.

"I see. Now then, I appreciate your concern for Selim, but you really shouldn't be staying here. I'll have someone give you a ride home."

"Um…"

"What is it?"

"I was wondering… could I see my brother?"

"Your brother?"

"Yeah. I… just want to see his face again."

"I don't see why not."

"Thank you."

---------------

The next day dawned with clouds blocking out the sky in its entirety. Roy stood at attention in front of Wrath as he pondered his fate. Riza was nowhere to be seen, so Roy was considerably worried. However, his worries were unfounded. Just as he was about to speak, Wrath smiled.

"It seems I've overestimated you, Mustang. There is no evidence pointing at you being involved with this attempted kidnapping at all."

Roy bit his lip and tried to conceal his surprise. Wrath paused for a moment before continuing. "However, your side is still weak against us. Even though the Fullmetal Alchemist has regained his memory, it remains only a partial gain."

"A partial gain?"

"Two years. Now he is thirteen. Any hope you had of him believing your story is gone. Well, now that the matter is settled, you may go back to work. Tell Alphonse that he may visit his brother sometime soon."

Roy saluted and left the room.

----------------

"So, he is a confirmed sacrifice again," Father muttered.

"That's how it would appear."

"How much does he remember?"

"According to him, nothing that he could use against us. The way he acted before the attempted kidnapping suggested that he remembers more than he's willing to admit, but I doubt he does."

"How can you be sure?"

"Despite all his weaknesses, the Fullmetal Alchemist isn't foolish enough to admit he does have skills that we desire. Unless, of course, he doesn't understand the situation he's in."

Father stood up and faced Wrath. "Very well. Continue to watch him and don't allow another incident like this one to happen again. He remembers what we need him to remember, so I don't see why we should allow him to remember anything else."

"Of course."

As Wrath left the room, Father walked through his underground lair to a room guarded by none other than Pride. The homunculus nodded to Father as he entered the room and observed a forlorn figure leaning against the wall.

"It's been a while, Hohenheim."

Hohenheim grunted in response. Father walked closer to him and stopped inches from his face. "I'm interested by the fact that you have children, and such talented ones at that. How on earth did you manage to accomplish that?"

Hohenheim was silent.

"You won't tell me? Very well, then, why don't you tell me about your life since I saw you last, before you ran away?"

Hohenheim was still silent.

"I see you're still as stubborn as ever." Father began to walk out of the room before turning around. He had an idea. "Perhaps I'll bring your children down here. I'm sure they'd just love to see their father for who he really is." Hohenheim opened his mouth to speak but Father had slammed the door on him.

---------------

Ed's eyes snapped open and he salt bolt upright in his bed, breathing heavily. He looked around the room, saw that it was empty, and fell back, only to have his head land on something other than his pillow. He sat upright again and looked back. Somehow he hadn't seen his brother behind him.

"Brother, are you okay?" Al asked, his face a mask of concern.

Ed nodded. "Yeah, fine. Al, what-"

"You should lie down, brother. You look terrible."

"I'm fine, Al."

"No you're not. Your arm's broken and you're really pale."

Ed was about to argue, but he felt a twinge of pain in his arm and decided to follow his brother's advice. He lay down, and Al sat on a chair next to Ed's bed.

"What are you doing here, Al?" Ed asked.

"I came to visit. I'll be here for a day or two."

"Why are they letting you visit?"

"Because you wanted to see me. Besides, it's not like I'll be doing anything against them for a while."

"Why not?"

"Brother, Winry's…"

Ed tried to sit up, but Al pushed him down. "What? What happened to her?"

Al checked the room and spoke in a low voice. "She's in Central. She was 'offered a very good job as a mechanic for the military.' Brother, they aren't messing around any more. This is serious."

Ed looked into his brother's face for a moment. "I see."

"But anyway, how's your arm? You got over those wounds Scar gave you, right?"

"Yeah, those are healed."

"That's good. I still can't believe he did that."

"Yeah. Hey, Al, do you…" Ed trailed off and sat up as the door opened and Bradley came in.

"I see you've been recovering nicely, Edward. Now then, since you're both here, I would like to know, would you be interested in visiting your father?"

"Yes."

"No."

Ed and Al exchanged glances, having spoken at the same time. Bradley looked at them both for a while before leaving the room. "Why don't you talk about it for a while?"

"Brother," Al began. "Why don't you want to see him?"

"I don't know. I guess I just said that out of habit." Ed paused and thought back on everything that his father had forced them to go through. "Although, there's something I'm supposed to tell him."

"What do you mean?"

"A message. From Mom."

"Eh? She told you to tell him something?"

"No, not me. She told granny, and granny asked me to tell him."

"Oh. Then we should see him. Aren't you worried about him?"

"Yeah, I guess you could say that."

Al was going to say more, but he decided to give it up. As long as Ed was willing to see their father, he was fine with the situation.

--------------

(yawn) me sleepy.


	12. Humanity

Yeah, the only reason you're getting the chapters so quickly is cuz this is the only story I feel like working on at the moment. And I have strep throat, so pity me. PITY ME YOU FOOLS OR NO MORE FANFICTION FOR YOU!!!!!!! XD Just kidding.

---------------

Two days later, Ed and Al left the Fuhrer's house with Envy to see their father. As they came to a car, Envy pulled out some cloth and gestured to Ed. "Your dad's in a very secret and secure prison. We can't let you see where we're going."

_Yeah, because otherwise I'd find out about your precious underground hideout,_ Ed thought as Envy covered his eyes and had him sit in the car. A moment later, the car began moving, and Ed found himself becoming bored. He couldn't see what he was doing, and nobody else in the vehicle was saying anything.

Finally, the car stopped, and Envy grabbed Ed's good hand and began pulling him along. They went inside a building, down some stairs, and down a hallway that twisted and turned so much that even if Ed had been able to see, he still wouldn't have been able to find his way back.

Finally, they stopped at a doorway, and Ed waited as Envy took off the blindfold. As soon as he could see again, Ed looked around. They seemed to be underground, which confirmed Ed's suspicions. The man called Father was nearby.

Envy opened the door and pushed Ed and Al into the room. He followed them in and closed the door behind him. Ed could hear the metallic click of a lock.

He looked at his father, who was sitting on a bed, looking very defeated. Hohenheim looked up at his children and gave a weak smile. Ed curled his hands into fists and didn't move for a moment. When he finally did move, he caught everyone by surprise.

He flew forward and brought a fist into his dad's face. "That's for ditching us for so long!" he shouted before taking a step back.

Hohenheim was in a daze, Al was in shock, and Envy was surprised, to say the least. After a moment of dead silence, Ed spoke again. "I have a message from Mom that Pinako forgot to give you. She said… she couldn't keep her promise, and that she would be going first, and that… she's sorry."

Hohenheim stared at Ed for a moment before bowing his head. "I see. Thank you for telling me."

"Yeah."

There was an awkward pause. Then Envy walked up to Ed and placed a hand on his shoulder. "You don't know what he is, do you?"

"Huh?" Ed replied, hoping he sounded confused enough.

"Wait here."

Envy left the room and locked it again. Ed and Al waited, not knowing what else to do. After a while, the door opened again, and Envy came in, this time with Father.

Ed did his best not to show that he recognized Father, and he looked from Father to Hohenheim for a moment, trying to figure out the connection. Then he realized that there would probably be an explanation coming up soon, so he just waited.

"These two don't know?" Father asked.

"No."

The old man walked up to the brothers and studied their faces intently. "Indeed, they have to be his children." He paced around them for a while. "Not only that, but they've succeeded in retrieving their bodies from the doors." After another minute, Father turned to Hohenheim. "I'm impressed. It seems that you running off gave us some advantages."

"Huh?" Ed asked. This was news to him.

Once again, Envy placed a hand on Ed's shoulder, but this time the grip was stronger. "Be quiet."

Ed resisted the urge to punch Envy in the face as Father turned back to him. The creepy old guy placed a hand under Ed's chin and forced his face upwards. "I wonder what that makes these two, then. They can't be entirely human, and yet… how long does it usually take you to heal?"

Ed raised an eyebrow. This was an unusual question. "Heal from what?"

"For instance your shoulder, the first time Scar got his hands on you. It was healed completely in less than two weeks, am I correct?"

"Yeah…"

Father abruptly grabbed Ed's left arm and pulled it out. "Envy, do you have a knife?"

Envy grinned. Ed panicked. He tried to get away from Father, but Envy dealt him a blow that stunned him.

"Brother!" Al cried, but Envy silenced him with a glare. The homunculus walked to a nearby table and picked up a knife. He handed it to Father with a grin still on his face. Ed braced himself for the injury he thought he'd be receiving, but the cut never came. For some reason, Father stopped before bringing the knife to Ed's skin.

"Envy, take him out of the room and send Gluttony in here."

Ed couldn't move. He felt frozen in place. Envy sighed in aggravation and grabbed Ed around the chest, practically dragging the alchemist out of the room. Ed watched in a daze as Envy talked to a shadow nearby, not realizing that the shadow was very familiar.

----------------

Al cringed as he felt Gluttony's hands on his arms. He looked past Father to Hohenheim, hoping to see if his father could help him at all. Hohenheim simply looked defeated.

"Gluttony, let go of his left arm," Father said. Al was relieved to have one of his arms free, but he didn't know how much he liked the idea of someone coming close to his arm with a knife. He twitched as the blade pierced his skin, and watched as Father let some of his blood flow into his hand before placing his other hand on Al's wound and healing it, leaving no trace of the wound other than a faint smear of blood on Al's arm.

Father observed the blood for a while before speaking. "It seems your sons have inherited more than just your talent. It's a shame that it doesn't prevent them from getting injured."

"Wait… what do you mean?" Al asked.

Father ignored Al's question as he mumbled to himself. "Of course, since they were born naturally, they're still closer to being humans than anything else, but there's something…" Father turned to Al. "Your body was at the doors for a while, correct?"

"Yeah, it was, but-"

"How did it survive?"

Al paused. "I think… my brother explained it to me, but I guess he can't explain it right now…"

"What did he tell you?"

"Something about our minds being linked, and his body… I guess it was making up for the lack of nutrition and sleep mine was getting, because he always slept more than usual, and he doesn't so much anymore…"

"That would explain it, but then, why would your body be in such bad shape?"

Al shook his head. "I don't know."

Father gestured to Gluttony, who let go of Al's other arm. "Of course you wouldn't know. The idea that your minds are linked is very plausible, but that's not the only thing that kept you alive."

Al's eyes widened as he realized what this meant. "Wait… you're saying… but…"

"Yes. There are traces of the stone in your blood. However, it's too little to be of any use to you."

Al fell to his knees. He didn't know what to think. If they'd had that in their blood, then why hadn't that been the passage fee for their failed transmutations? And why didn't it do the same for them as it did for the homunculi, if not to a lesser extent? But then again, like Father had said, it wasn't enough to be useful to them.

"Then why would it matter?" Al asked weakly.

"It doesn't affect you, so don't think about it any more. All this makes you is something slightly more than human. Gluttony, take this boy to another room and secure him there. We can't risk him venturing to the surface and doing something foolish."

---------------

Ed sat with his back against the wall, his arms wrapped around his knees. Envy stood nearby, watching the alchemist cautiously. Ed looked back at the door for a moment, knowing what was going on inside, but not wanting to admit it. That he and Al had something like that inside their bodies and yet had lost so much… It was hard to believe. Then Ed turned to Envy, a semi-innocent look on his face.

"Is your name Envy?" he asked, watching as the 'soldier's' facial expressions became very sour.

"That's right, pipsqueak."

"WHO'SSOSHORTTHATYOUCAN'TSEETHEMEVENWITHAMAGNIFYINGGLASSWHENTHEY'REWEARINGBRIGHTCLOTHESONADARKSURFACE?!?!?!?!?"

"Whoa, don't forget to breathe."

Ed, for once, took Envy's advice and took a deep breath. Envy sat down next to Ed and placed a hand on his head. Ed cringed inwardly, but he restrained himself for the sake of keeping his memories a secret. Then Envy spoke.

"You know, part of me thinks you might be like a little brother soon."

"What does that mean?"

"You'll know if Father wants you to know."

Just then, the door opened, and Gluttony came out with Al. Al did _not_ look happy.

"Al?" Ed asked cautiously.

"Gluttony, what are you doing?" Envy asked.

Gluttony smiled. "I'm taking him to another room. Father wants him here."

Ed's eyes widened and he stood up. "Hey, wait a second-"

"Shut up."

"But-"

"I said shut up!" Envy snapped, shoving Ed roughly against the wall, his hand on Ed's throat. "Don't think you have a say in this. If Father wants your brother to stay here, then he'll stay here. Don't bother to argue about it."

The door opened, and Father came out, looking with some surprise at the scene before him. Envy let go of Ed, who collapsed on the ground, wheezing and clutching his neck. Al kneeled down next to him and put a hand on his back, not speaking for fear of causing more problems. They both looked up, waiting for Father to speak.

"Envy, take the Fullmetal Alchemist back to the Fuhrer," Father said, handing Envy a piece of paper. "Don't let him see where he is."

"Of course," Envy replied, pulling out the blindfold and moving to tie it around Ed's eyes.

"Hey wait," Ed said, avoiding Envy's reach. "Can't I talk to my brother first?"

Father inspected Ed for a moment before walking away. "Make it quick."

Al looked at Envy and Gluttony for a moment before reaching for his brother and pulling him into a hug. "I'll miss you," Al muttered. Al let go and took something from around his neck. He pushed it into Ed's hand along with an envelope. "I'll see you later, okay?"

Ed watched Al nervously, not knowing whether Al was lying or not. Then Al left, and Ed looked at the envelope in his hand. He stuck the other object into his pocket, figuring it was the medallion. Before he could open the envelope, though, Envy took it away from him.

"Hey!" Ed tried to grab the paper, but Envy kept it out of his reach.

"Give it up, pipsqueak. I'm just checking to make sure it isn't some code."

"Why the hell would Al want to say something in code?" Ed asked, even though he knew about fifty reasons.

"It's called being cautious, pipsqueak. Just calm down."

After being called short twice, Ed found he couldn't calm down. In fact, he couldn't stop himself from punching Envy in the face. "I'm not short!" he shouted as Envy got to his feet.

"You idiot." Envy grabbed Ed by the wrist and pulled him very close to his face. "We're being nice to you. Don't make me angry."

Envy let go and signaled for Ed to turn around. Ed did so very unwillingly and cringed as Envy tied the cloth over his eyes. Ed felt a hand on his neck, and Envy's voice sounded in his ear. "After all, I wasn't this nice to you before. You should be grateful. I'm even going to give your brother's sappy letter back to you."

Envy stuck the paper into Ed's hand, and Ed stuck it into his pocket. Then Envy grabbed Ed's wrist and began walking.

--------------

Ed sat quietly in his room as Envy checked around for what he called suspicious items. After a while, Envy gave up and sat next to Ed on the bed. Ed cringed again, this time on the outside, but he tried to hide it. Envy simply snickered.

"Well then, I guess you don't like me. You sure you don't remember me?"

"What's that mean?" Ed asked, trying to avoid answering the question.

"Never mind. Right now, there's something you need to know."

Ed glanced at Envy's face. It was a mask of fake sorrow. Ed groaned inwardly. This was going to be one painful conversation. "What?" Ed asked, ignoring the dread he felt in the pit of his stomach.

"Your father. He's had what you've been searching for ever since the beginning."

Ed stared blankly at Envy, trying to come up with a response while convincing Envy that he was in shock of the news. "What do you mean?" he asked finally.

"That man, Hohenheim, is a creation of Father's, with the philosopher's stone as part of his body. That same stone has managed to find its way into your blood."

This is where Ed wanted to ask about five hundred questions, but before he could open his mouth, Envy covered it.

"Don't bother asking any questions. It'll just be too much for your little brain to handle. To answer some of the questions that I know you're bound to ask, you're considered something between a human and a homunculus, your brother's being held because we're worried about his safety, and this little thing in your blood won't affect you at all. Although, there may be some smaller things…"

"What kind of things?" Ed asked, having regained the ability to speak.

Envy shrugged. "Nothing that'll kill you."

Before Ed could get Envy to elaborate, the homunculus left the room.

----------------

A week passed by, and Father summoned Ed to his lair once again. This time Ed was forced to take his shirt off and lie on a table, restrained by leather straps. He saw a transformed Envy nearby. Envy walked up to Ed and placed a wet cloth over his eyes. Ed began to feel afraid. This fear only intensified as he felt a cold hand on his chest.

"Breathe in," commanded a voice. Ed obliged, not knowing what else he could do. After several seconds, the voice spoke again. "Now exhale."

As Ed let the air out of his body, he felt an intense pressure on his chest. He panicked and tried to escape the restraints, but he couldn't. He tried to scream, but his voice had left him. So he lay there. He lay on the table until the pain ebbed away. He relaxed, and his body went limp.

After a while, he was vaguely aware of voices in the room.

"This is an interesting result," Father muttered. "I didn't expect for it to work. After all, it failed on his brother."

Ed felt a finger tracing something on his chest. "What exactly did you do to him?"

"He is no longer human. Assuming my theory is correct, he has gained some traits only a homunculus could have. However, he is still human to a certain degree. He can't regenerate as easily as you."

Ed was confused. Why would Father want to give him special abilities? Or was he just some experiment done for the hell of it?

He felt the restraints loosen, and the cloth was removed from his eyes. Ed kept his eyes closed. He had no energy left. He lay on the table for a while before he could move. When he opened his eyes, he saw Father standing above him.

"You should feel honored. You are no longer human."

Ed could feel someone helping him to sit up. He looked around, trying to understand just what had happened. He still felt like himself, but something was off. He felt something on his shoulders, which made him think to look down at himself. Beneath the blanket that now covered his body, there were black lines on his skin. It wasn't an ouroboros tattoo, but it was something that Ed felt was just as sinister.

"What… what did…" Ed's voice wavered. He felt sick.

"I've brought you out of humanity. From now on, you are something better."

"Better how?"

"You'll have to discover that for yourself. Get up."

Ed stood unsteadily, gripping the table for support. He felt someone gripping him, supporting him. He looked over. It was Greed.

---------------

Ed managed to keep a straight face, but he hadn't been able to hide the surprise in his eyes. Father saw his surprise.

"You recognize him?"

Ed blinked. "He… seems familiar," he managed to say, hoping that he sounded convincing.

"Do not attempt to hide it any more. You've given yourself away."

Ed raised an eyebrow. He didn't remember giving anything away.

"Or rather, your brother has given you away," Father concluded.

"What?" Ed asked, honestly confused.

"We attempted the same thing with him," Greed said. "It failed, but your brother gave away your secret in his state of delirium that came after. We know that you've remembered for a while, ever since Scar put you in the hospital. We know you've been trying to spy on us." There was a pause. Ed looked around. The only ones in the room were him, Greed, and Envy.

Envy stood in front of Ed with a smug grin on his face. Ed longed to get rid of it, but his body was still weak. He merely listened as Envy spoke to him.

"You've lost, pipsqueak. You and your friends have been defeated. Now why don't you take a break and then follow us? Whatever we tell you to do shouldn't be too hard with your new body."

Ed lost it. He didn't know what came over him, but he couldn't stay in this place anymore. He brought his fist into Envy's face, sending the homunculus flying, and raced for the door. He broke through and ran. He could hear shouts coming from behind him, but he didn't care.

He ran as fast as he could through the hallways until he came to a staircase. He began to make his way up it, but after a few steps, he felt a hand on his ankle, and he fell. He looked back. Greed let go of his leg and pulled Ed to his feet. His face was serious.

"Damn it, Ling, let me go!" Ed shouted as he tried to break free from Greed's hold. Greed pulled him closer until his mouth was right next to Ed's ear.

"I'm Greed. If you want me to let go, you have to use the right name."

Ed looked at Greed's face. "Fine. Let me go, _Greed_."

To his surprise, Greed let go and began walking down the stairs. "Keep running, Ed. I'll chase after you in a minute, and next time I won't let go."

Ed blinked and nodded. He turned and continued running, not stopping until he was at the surface and making his way through the streets of Central. After a while, he collapsed in an alley. He was exhausted, and his chest hurt. He pulled the blanket closer around him and curled into a ball, trying unsuccessfully to hold back a sob.

"What am I?" he asked himself. "What the hell am I?"

He lay on the ground and cried until he couldn't anymore. Then he allowed himself to be taken by sleep.

--------------

Oh noes teh drama. Gasp.


	13. Journey

Yes, an update. Even though _nobody_ gave me pity like I asked them to, I'm updating. You should be grateful I'm nice. Hmph.

----------

Roy woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of someone knocking on his door. He wearily got up and walked to the doorway. He looked through the peephole, but he could only see the top of his visitor's head. It was Edward.

Roy opened the door and received a shock. Ed's eyes were glazed over, and he was wearing something that looked like a transmuted blanket. Roy looked into the hallway and ushered Ed inside.

"What's going on, Fullmetal?" he asked as he got Ed to sit down. "You look terrible."

Ed shook his head. Tears began to come into his eyes. "I shouldn't have come here."

"What are you talking about?"

"They know."

Roy blinked. He knew what Ed meant by 'they,' but… "What? What do they know?"

"They know that I remember. They know the truth about me. About… what I really am."

"What are you talking about, Fullmetal?"

Ed cringed as Roy put a hand on his left shoulder and pulled himself away. "I shouldn't have left. Winry's in danger now."

"She's fine. She and Hawkeye went into hiding the other day."

Ed stared at Roy. "They did?"

"Yes."

"Somewhere safe?"

Roy thought about it for a moment. His plan had worked out without a hitch. "Yes."

"Are you sure?"

"As sure as I can be, Fullmetal. Now what happened?"

Ed shook his head. "I don't know."

"Are you hurt?"

"It hurts to speak."

"Did something happen to your neck?"

"No."

Roy sighed and held out a hand. "Come on, you look exhausted."

Ed followed Roy silently to Roy's bedroom. Roy sat him down and picked up the floor some. "Get some rest. If someone's coming after you, you'll need to be able to leave early in the morning."

Ed looked around for a while. "Leave?"

"That's right. We're leaving. They may be letting us live, but I'm sick of not being able to fight openly. We're going to the north to prevent this circle or whatever from being finished."

Roy was surprised to hear a strange noise come from Ed. He turned around to see that Ed had hidden his face completely. "Al…"

"Where is he?" Roy asked.

"He's still underground. There's no way they'll let him out after everything that's happened." Ed unconsciously gripped his left side. He stopped when he noticed Roy watching him.

"Something wrong with your side?"

"No." Ed said it so fast that Roy became suspicious. He decided he'd give Ed a moment alone before asking, so he went into the kitchen to get some food. When he went back into the room, Ed hadn't moved. Roy set down his plate.

"Edward."

Ed looked up at Roy. "What?"

"Take off your shirt."

"Why?"

"I need to see what they did to you."

Ed tensed. "It's none of your business."

"Excuse me?" Roy asked. "You show up in the middle of the night, talking about them like they're coming after you, you can barely move, and you expect me to believe that you're perfectly fine?"

"I am fine. Just tired."

"You said it hurt to speak."

"I was running. A lot."

"Then why didn't you say that earlier?"

Ed stood. "I don't know! I just can't think right now, okay?"

Roy went back to his original quest. "Look, if you got any new information, then we need to know it. That goes for injuries too. Not just injuries, anything they've done to you. Take your shirt off."

"No."

"That's an order, Fullmetal."

"I don't care." Ed made for the door, but Roy got a hold of his wrist and pulled him back. Ed brought his other fist toward Mustang's face, but Roy grabbed it in midair and twisted it slightly, causing Ed to grimace. "What's your problem?" Ed asked, glaring at Mustang with all his might.

"Fullmetal, do you think I'm stupid? I can tell when you're hiding something!"

"Well, what gives you the right to know?"

Despite the situation, Roy was relieved. At least Ed was still easy to get riled up. "I'm in charge of you. If it weren't for me, you wouldn't be involved in any of this."

"Yeah, that's true," Ed shot back. He broke free of Roy's grasp and took a step back. He lowered his eyes. "But then Al would still be stuck in the worst body possible."

Roy breathed a silent sigh of relief. Ed had finally calmed down. "So?"

Ed looked up and met Roy's gaze. "You have to promise that you won't change the way you think about me."

"Why would I do that? I've known you for years. It's not like one thing can change what I think of you. You'll always be a determined pipsqueak in my mind."

To his surprise, Ed didn't retaliate. He sat down and blinked several times before looking at Roy again. "So is it a promise?"

"Yes."

Ed pulled his makeshift shirt off and tossed it aside. Roy stared in shock at the black lines that covered the alchemist's left side. "What…"

"That bastard did this. I guess I'm not allowed to call myself human anymore."

-----------------

Roy didn't get to sleep until about three in the morning. He had stayed awake for at least an hour after Ed had dropped off to sleep, and that was only after Ed had told his story. Roy had spent the rest of the night on the couch, giving Ed a chance to feel somewhat safe, since his bedroom didn't have any windows and the only way in there was through the living room, where Roy happened to be sleeping. He also hadn't wanted Ed's condition to worsen. After telling his story, Ed had become faint, and Roy had put a lot of effort into convincing the boy not to fall asleep with his shoes on.

He had pondered Ed's story for a while, not knowing what to think. He had been shocked to hear about Ed's father, but rage had come through when Ed spoke about what they had done to him. _"I still don't know what's different about me, other than this… thing."_

That morning, Roy was shaken awake by none other than Ed. He checked his clock. It was six thirty, half an hour before he had planned on getting up. Roy sat up wearily.

"What is it?"

"We have to go. Now."

"What makes you say that?"

"I… I don't know, but it's almost like I can feel something bad coming close."

Roy stood up, completely awake now. "Then we'll go. Your brother's suitcase is over there. He has some of your clothes in it along with his, so get dressed. Try not to wear anything conspicuous."

"Right," Ed muttered. Roy watched as Ed got some clothes. His movements seemed forced, as if he was having troubles moving.

"Ed?"

"What?"

"You look like a zombie."

Ed looked at Roy as he pulled out a shirt and hoodie from the suitcase. "You would too if you ran through a huge underground psycho lair and up like twenty flights of stairs."

"Twenty?"

"What, you expect me to keep track? I'm sore, okay? That's all there really is to it."

Roy sighed as he went into his room to change. Then he grabbed a backpack that contained everything they needed for the trip. He hadn't been planning on taking Ed with him, but he knew that Ed could fend for himself, especially since he'd had his wallet in his pocket when Envy had picked him up for the experiment.

Once they were ready, Roy opened the door and let Ed out before leaving his home and locking the door behind him, never planning on returning.

They made their way through the city. Ed was on edge until they reached the train station. They boarded a train and headed south.

"South?" Ed asked incredulously.

"Yes, it's called a detour. We're going south, then west, and then north. It'll take a few more days, but it should keep us out of too much trouble. Although, some of the routes I mapped out require walking, unless we can find someone to give us a ride. I don't want us to be caught, and if that means avoiding the less crowded trains, then that's what we'll do."

"Oh, I get it," Ed muttered.

"We're also going to make a stop along the way."

"Where?"

Roy gave Ed a knowing smile. "In Dublith."

"Dublith?" Ed groaned. "You aren't planning on trying to meet… her, are you?"

"If by 'her' you mean your old teacher, no."

Ed breathed a sigh of relief just as Roy spoke again.

"You're the one who's going to meet her."

--------------

Ed walked cautiously up to his teacher's shop and opened the door. He walked in, trying his best not to be noticed, but it didn't work too well, since he was the only one in there other than his teacher. Izumi stared at him, watching his attempts at invisibility with amusement for a while before speaking up.

"Nice try, Ed. Now what are you doing here? And why is it that I've heard rumors about you and Al trying to start a rebellion?"

"Um…" Ed searched his mind for a while, trying to find a good way to say what Roy had told him to say without sounding too stupid. "We have a problem. A big problem."

"What kind of problem? And it's nice to see your arm again."

"Thanks." Ed looked out the window before speaking again. "It's… hard to explain, but there's a problem with this country."

Ed got knocked backwards about three feet. He gripped his nose in surprise.

"I really hope you didn't come here just to point out the obvious, Ed. I thought you were smarter than that."

"I am! It's just… really hard to explain."

"Then get your little military friend to explain it," Izumi snapped, gesturing to the window, where they could see Roy trying in vain to spy on them. Ed sighed and called Roy inside.

Once they had explained the basics to Izumi, the woman stood up. "So you're saying I should run away."

"No," Ed replied. "I'm just telling you what's going on. There's a really good chance that the military will come here, and I wanted you to know beforehand."

"I see. Now let's see this tattoo of yours."

Ed sighed and pulled up his shirt in order to reveal the black marks on his skin. His teacher looked at it for several minutes before walking to a bookshelf. She grabbed one of the books and set it on the table, opening it to a certain page and pointing to a design eerily similar to that on Ed's skin.

"I thought I'd seen that somewhere before. It's a symbol of perfection and imperfection combined. I don't know what it means, but it can't be anything good."

"But that's the thing. I don't know why that guy said I wasn't human anymore. I don't feel different at all. Well, I'm sore as hell, but that's from running so much."

"Just how far did you go before stopping?"

Ed shrugged. "I don't really know. Why?"

"This is just a theory, but I think I might know why you were able to escape. Even if this new Greed let you go, the fact that he caught up with you means he was either faster than you or he knew his way around the place better than you do."

"It's probably the second one. I kept getting lost in there."

"Which means you were going faster than him. Was he slower than you the last time you raced, if you did at all?"

_Come to think of it, it did seem like I was going faster than usual…_ Ed thought. "So wait, you think that's what they were talking about?"

"Well, they didn't seem to know themselves, so it might just be that it's made you stronger. Or you really wanted to get the hell out of there."

Roy stood up. "Anyway, I think it's time for us to head out. It wouldn't be good if we were late."

Ed stood up and pulled his shirt back on. "So… I guess this is goodbye for now…"

"I might not be here the next time you come. If everything you've said is true, then I can't just sit around and let those bastards do all that."

Ed laughed weakly. "Yeah, right… Well, I'm leaving, so…"

Izumi caught Ed in her arms and held him close for a minute. "Don't be stupid, okay?"

Ed hid his head as he stood in his teacher's arms. "I'll try my best."

Izumi let go and put her hands on her hips. "Somehow, that isn't very reassuring. Especially considering how much of an idiot you've been since I met you."

Ed was about to reply when Izumi smiled. "Get out of here, Ed."

Ed turned and walked to the door. He waved as he left the building for what felt like the last time.

--------------

As they walked down the road, Ed felt like something was wrong. They had been traveling for several days, and were now coming close to their final destination. Ed trailed behind Mustang with his feet dragging. Despite all the traveling he'd done in the past, he felt as if this trip had given him enough traveling to last him a lifetime.

"And why do we have to walk through this again?"

"Because it turned out to be too risky to take the train."

"And why do I care about that?"

"Because you don't want to go back to Central."

Ed groaned. "Yeah, but I'm tired."

"Quit complaining. You've traveled more than I have in the past few years."

"So? I've also been in the hospital four times since I got my arm back. And then there's the… hmm…"

"You were in the hospital five or six times after you got your leg back."

"Right. Not exactly the best year of my life."

"How old are you right now?"

"I'll be seventeen in a couple of months."

Roy stopped.

"What?" Ed asked.

"Stand straight for a minute. I want to see something."

Ed stood still as Roy walked up to him and did some weird measuring thing. "Any reason you randomly decided to walk up to me and check my height?" he asked, getting a little angry.

"You've grown since you got your arm back. I'd say you're at least two inches taller now."

"Just two?"

"Considering it's only been a few months, I'd say that's impressive. Who knows, maybe you won't be a midget by the time you're an adult?"

"Hey!"

Roy took off at a run, and Ed chased after him. "Come back here you jerk!" he shouted. "I'll-"

Roy stopped running and turned around. "You'll what, Fullmetal?" he asked before he saw Ed on the ground. "Ed!"

Ed was on his hands and knees. He was trembling visibly. "Damn it…"

"Hey, are you okay?"

Ed nodded. "Yeah, I'll be fine in a minute." After he said this, though, Ed felt something come up his throat, and he threw up.

"What the hell, Fullmetal?" Roy nearly shouted, panic obvious in his voice.

"I don't know… I don't think I can take much more of this…"

Roy looked around. There was a town in the distance, which was their destination for the day. "Can you make it that far?" he asked, pointing to the town.

Ed nodded and wiped his face before getting to his feet. They walked silently down the road, Roy staying next to Ed in order to catch him if he fell.

---------------

By the time they made it into town, Roy found himself carrying Ed. At first he'd been unwilling to do so, but as he picked Ed up off the ground, he realized that the teen was much lighter than he remembered. _Then again, last time I carried him was when he had automail_, he thought as he walked into the town.

He set Ed down and had him walk through the town until they got to a bench. As they sat there, Roy noticed someone in a military uniform walking toward him. He had dark skin and wore goggles. He stopped in front of the bench and nodded to Roy.

"Roy Mustang?"

"That's me," Roy replied.

"I'm Major Miles. I'm here from Briggs. I take it he's done for today?" he said, gesturing to Ed, who had nearly passed out.

Roy nodded. "You don't seem surprised that he's here."

"Considering the news from Central lately, we were beginning to expect him showing up soon. Come on, the car is waiting."

Roy managed to get Ed to walk the two blocks to the car, but that was all he managed. He sighed as he realized Ed was breaking.

"What happened to him?" Miles asked as they drove toward the fort.

"He had a run-in with our friends in Central. Didn't end well."

"I see."

"How are things here?"

"It seems that Drachma is under the impression that we are getting ready for war. They are arming themselves and directing the majority of their forces to their southern border. There is also the matter of the tunnel that is still unresolved, but thanks to some of his work, we'll be able to remedy the situation soon enough." Miles gestured to Ed. "How long ago was he attacked?"

"He wasn't attacked, per se. It was more of an… experiment."

"Experiment?"

"You'd have to ask him for details. I barely understand it myself."

They arrived at the base, and Roy pulled a now unconscious Ed out of the back seat. Miles looked at the alchemist's face for a moment. "I suppose that questions will have to wait."

-------------

Note: If you're wondering how Roy got Riza and Winry away, don't expect an answer. Details like that aren't my forte, and we all know that Roy's smart enough to come up with something incredible all on his own, so why should I feel the need to help him with that?

And yes, Ed's arm is still broken in this chapter, but it's healed by the end. I didn't mention it because his arm being broken doesn't affect any of the events in this chapter. (and because I kinda forgot about that while writing this but SHHHH hey look a cookie! runs away)

Ah, yes, and Ed knows where Roy lives because… well, if you've read Separated, you'll know why, and if you haven't… read it. It's damn good.

And for all those RoyEd fans out there: don't get your hopes up. I can't write pairings like that. If it's not what the author's getting at, then I don't want it in my stories. Besides… yeah, if you've read the manga, you'll know what I'm talking about, and it'll turn up next chapter.


	14. Relationships

Yay, someone actually gave me pity! Well, sorta… Okies, so we have a little bit of fluff in this chapter, and it's my first time really writing fluff, so let me know how I did, okay?

-------------

"_Where am I?"_

_A flame seemed to snake its way around the room, slowly creeping up on him._

"_Is this a dream?"_

_It stopped in front of him. He stared at it in fear._

"_What is this?"_

_It came close. He tried to get away, but it wrapped itself around his chest, the two ends meeting over his tattoo._

"_Go away."_

_He tried to push the flames off of him, but they only grew._

"_Stop."_

_They covered his entire left side. He could feel a strange sensation where they came in contact with his body._

"_Get off of me!"_

_He tried to move, but he couldn't. Something was holding him down._

"You're saying he's been changed into something different from a human?"

Ed opened his eyes. He knew it was Roy and Olivier speaking in the background, but he couldn't see them. There was a damp cloth on his forehead, presumably to lessen the fever.

"That's what he said," Roy replied. "Although we haven't been able to confirm exactly what they did to him."

"It seems fairly obvious to me. He inherited certain… traits from his father and that man simply brought them to the surface. All that kid needs to do is figure out just what he can do."

"You make it sound so easy."

"I never said it would be easy, especially for someone like him. He's too soft."

After a moment, Roy excused himself and left the room. Ed heard footsteps and tried to reach up to the cloth in order to move it away from his eyes. Instead, he felt a hand on his wrist, and he allowed it to place his arm at his side again. A moment later, the hand pushed the cloth up so that Ed could use his eyes. The first thing he saw was the frowning face of Olivier Armstrong.

"Mustang seems clueless about your little change. Care to explain?"

"I… don't really know how."

"Then how about you tell me what's going on in your body right now?"

"It… feels like it's burning."

"Your side?"

"Yeah. It's taking away all of my energy, too."

"Then shut up and get to sleep. We'll talk more about this when you can actually think clearly."

Olivier covered Ed's eyes with the cloth again and stormed off. At least, that's what it sounded like to Ed. It also sounded like she slammed the door when she in fact closed it gently, which was a rare thing for her to do.

--------------

After a day or so, Ed was moved into one of the dorm rooms that the regular soldiers used. It took him a while to get to the point where he could actually stand on his own, so there were many days he spent alone with very little in the way of entertainment.

Most of his time was spent reading a newspaper Roy had given him. There was an article about the two of them, how they had deserted the military and they were a threat to the country. Ed found that ironic. If they were a threat, then what did that make Father's little group?

Towards the end of his recovery, there was a knock on the door. Ed sat up and told whomever it was to come in. He was slightly surprised to see Riza and Winry.

Ed was grateful he had a sweatshirt on. The tattoo had somehow spread to his arm, and he couldn't wear short-sleeved shirts without letting it show.

"Hey," Ed said. "I thought you were going into hiding."

"We are," Riza replied. "I have some friends in Drachma. They've agreed to get Winry and her grandmother up there and take care of them until it's safe to come back here."

Ed looked at Winry. "When are you going?"

"Tomorrow." Winry glanced nervously at Ed's left side. "How's…"

"It's fine."

Riza looked at the two and left the room without a word, but not before flashing Ed a knowing look. Ed blushed slightly and turned back to Winry. "So… you nervous?"

"Yeah. I'm just glad we could take Den with us. I couldn't leave him here."

Ed smiled as he stood up. "Yeah. He is a part of the family, after all."

Winry was quiet for a minute. Then she took Ed in her arms and held him as tightly as she could. "Are you still a part of it, Ed?"

Ed stood in shock for a minute before he returned the hug. "I am. I could never think of you without feeling happy. Winry, I…"

"I know, Ed. I love you too." She held him even tighter. "Please, don't die."

"I won't."

"And don't let what they did to you bother you. I don't care if you're not a normal human. I wouldn't care if you ended up like that Havoc guy. He's still the same person, and so are you."

Ed paused and pulled himself away. "Wait, how do you know all this?"

"Riza told me most of it, and Mustang told me everything else. Ed, I'm afraid. I'm scared for you, and for Al, and for everyone here. But no matter what, promise me you'll save Al."

"I will. I'll get him back, I swear."

Winry pulled Ed back into a hug and looked into his eyes. "Aw, I can't look down on you anymore."

"Hey."

"I'm just teasing, Ed. Here," she moved even closer to him. "I want to give you something."

Ed wasn't surprised at what came next, although it left him in a daze. He stood in his daze and watched as Winry left the room. He only snapped out of it when Riza came back in.

"Winry seems pretty happy," she said, looking at the door.

"Uh… yeah…"

"You told her, didn't you?"

"No."

Riza looked at Ed in surprise. Ed smiled. "I didn't need to."

Riza smiled. "I see."

"So wait, are you staying here?"

"Yes, there's more I can do down here, and I don't have to worry quite so much about being used as a hostage up here."

Ed nodded. "Yeah, that's the only reason I'm okay with being here. If Al were in danger of being killed, I would have given myself up, but I'm sure he can get out, especially since they won't want to kill him."

"He'll be fine. After all, he's your brother." Riza headed for the door, but she turned around before she opened it. "Oh, the Major General wants you to report to her office as soon as you can. She said it's important."

"Ah, yes. I'll do that now. Thanks."

--------------

There was a tentative knock on the door. "Come in," Olivier said without looking up from her map. She only looked up when Ed was standing in front of her.

"I have a job for you. A while after you left the first time, General Raven sent that thing back into the tunnel. I want you to lead a small group through the tunnel, find 'Sloth' and stop him. We can't afford to let that circle be completed, and I have a feeling it's getting close. War is coming, Fullmetal. We've wasted too much time on the surface. If we don't act now, we won't have another chance."

Ed nodded. "All right."

"You can use that passageway you created the first time you came here. Your group will be waiting for you there. Dismissed."

Ed made his way to the entryway he had made and saw a small group of people standing around it. He was grateful that he recognized the majority of them. Major Miles saluted and gestured for Ed to go down first.

----------------

They walked quietly through the immense tunnel, not knowing exactly what awaited them. After a while, Ed paused. He could feel something strange, and it took him a while to realize just what he was feeling.

"We're close."

Miles studied Ed carefully. "How do you know that?"

Ed shrugged. "I just do. Don't know why. We should be able to hear him in a few minutes."

Ed's prediction proved to be correct, and they listened intently as they continued walking through the dark tunnel. The only sounds they heard were that of digging and Sloth complaining about digging being 'tiresome.' Finally, they got close enough to see him, and the giant homunculus turned around to see where the light was coming from.

"Eh… bright… so… tiresome…"

Sloth turned back and continued working. Miles began to pull out a weapon, but Ed stopped him. "Wait. I think I might know how to stop him."

Everyone watched as Ed walked up so that he was just behind Sloth. "Hey, Sloth?"

Sloth stopped working and looked at Ed. "Who are you?"

"I'm… a good friend."

"Friend?"

"I have a message from Father. He says you can take a break for a while."

"Digging is… tiresome."

"It is, isn't it?" Ed smiled. "Come on, there's a nice place where you can sleep nearby."

Sloth looked at the military people behind Ed. "They're… here."

"You don't trust me?" Ed asked. He unzipped his sweatshirt casually and pulled it off. The edge of the tattoo was barely visible underneath his sleeve. "Don't worry. Like I said, I'm a friend. I'm almost the same as you."

"Same… your ouroboros?"

"I don't have one of those, but I have something similar. Want to see it?"

"Yes."

Ed pulled his shirt up just enough to reveal the black mark to the homunculus. After looking at it, Sloth seemed to trust Ed more. "Sleep…"

Ed turned around and began walking. "Come on. There's a place over here."

As they arrived at the nice little 'bed' Ed had prepared for Sloth, Ed heard a thud. Sloth had fallen asleep, on the 'bed,' no less, and Ed grinned.

--------------

"Wow, you handled that rather easily," Miles said as they walked through the fortress.

"Yeah, I guess so," Ed replied. "It's weird, but I just felt like I knew him from meeting him somewhere." He paused. "Not from that one time, but from before… And I could almost _feel_ his presence." Ed discreetly put a hand on his side. _Maybe it has something to do with this,_ he thought. He decided to talk about it with Roy. Even if the Colonel couldn't say anything, it was worth talking about. Besides, Ed wasn't in the mood to be lectured about keeping secrets again.

-------------

"So you think that feeling you had came from what they did to you?" Roy asked incredulously. They were sitting in Ed's room, and Ed was telling Roy about his new theory.

"Yeah, that's right," Ed replied. "I know it seems weird, but-"

"It would explain a lot," Roy interrupted. "Such as your nervousness in Central. The reports _did_ say that someone came to my apartment that morning to arrest me."

"You think it was Envy?"

"That would be my best guess. Only thing is, I don't know how it's even possible. I mean, sure, Ran Fan and the others from Xing could feel the homunculi's presence, but I'm positive it's different from that."

"It could be that this is your 'power.' The homunculi each have a unique… gift, right? If you've become closer to being like them, then wouldn't it make sense for you to have something just as…" Roy trailed off, trying to find the right word.

"Yeah, I guess that makes sense, but…"

"What?"

Ed shook his head. "I don't know. I just don't want to be like this."

"I know you don't, but I think we can use this to our advantage."

Ed leaned back against the wall. "Yeah, but I still don't want to be like this."

Roy stood up. "Well, maybe you can find a way to fix it after we get through all this."

Ed watched silently as Roy walked to the door. As he opened the door, Ed noticed that the Colonel seemed slightly more cheerful than usual. He grinned.

"Having a good time with Hawkeye?" he asked, the grin still on his face. Roy whipped around to face him, his face red.

"What's that supposed to mean, Fullmetal?"

"You heard me. You've been pretty distracted lately, especially when she's around."

"I'm just happy that she isn't in such a dangerous situation. Aren't you happy that Winry will be safe from now on?"

"Yeah, but I don't stop and stare at her every time she walks by."

"You know, I heard about what you two were doing this morning. Hawkeye said you had lipstick on your face."

"Winry doesn't wear lipstick!" Ed snapped.

Roy laughed. "Oh, so I was right? I was just kidding, but from how you reacted…"

Ed blushed slightly. "Yeah, well at least I managed to admit it, unlike you."

"What are you implying?"

"Oh, I think you know exactly what I'm talking about."

"What, you think I have feelings for her? I'll have you know, Fullmetal, I've known her for years."

"That's how it is with me and Winry."

"But there's a bigger age difference."

"How much of an age difference do you think there was between my parents?"

"Wha- that's different!"

"How so?"

Roy was very red at this moment. Ed was enjoying seeing him squirm. After a moment, Roy turned around and wrenched the door open. "I don't see why I'm talking to you about this," he said as he slammed the door shut behind him. Ed was shaking with mirth.

--------------

A week passed. Winry and Pinako had headed north with a Drachman citizen, and Roy had admitted to Ed that he indeed had feelings for Riza. Ed wanted to tease Roy, but he didn't out of respect for Riza. They continued working toward their goal of preventing an attack on Briggs.

Ed woke up with a start in the middle of the night. It had been seven days since he had last seen Winry, and he had been interested to realize that he had indeed been counting the moments._ Eh, it's probably just a phase_, he had thought, and it was true. Right now he had absolutely no thoughts about Winry. He was filled with a sense of unease.

Roy, who shared the room with him, woke up and looked sleepily over at Ed. "What are you doing?" he managed to ask through the yawns.

"That feeling's back again," Ed replied. "Someone's coming."

Roy instantly was as awake as Ed at that point. "Do you know who?"

"It feels like Envy, but I don't know for sure."

"Envy? What's he doing here?"

Ed thought hard about the question for a while. "I don't know, but he's probably after me."

Roy got out of bed and pulled some normal clothes on. "We have to tell the others about this."

Ed got up as well. "Right."

-------------

"Envy, you say?"

"That's right."

Olivier thought hard about Ed's story for a moment. "This is troublesome. It's good that your little friend left already." She stood up and pointed at Ed and Roy. "I want you two to find this Envy and bring him here."

"Why?" Ed asked before he could stop himself.

"Because he'll be coming here anyway, and I'd rather have him under our control."

Ed raised an eyebrow. "That's…"

"I didn't say to use force. Just 'accidentally' cross paths with him and lead him here. We'll do the rest."

"Okay…"

"What are you waiting for? Go now."

Ed and Roy promptly left the office and headed out to the road that led to civilization. Roy stifled a yawn as they walked.

"Ya know, I'm not really liking this idea of taking orders from her."

"Get used to it, Colonel. I've had to do it a lot."

"But I outrank you."

"And she outranks you, so deal with it."

"You seem a little irritated, Fullmetal."

Ed shook his head. "No, not irritated, just worried. I have a really bad feeling about this."

"It'll be fine. All we need to do is get Envy up to the base."

"Yeah, but… I dunno, something just seems wrong."

They walked in silence for a while. Then Ed stopped dead in his tracks. "He's close."

Ed squinted into the dark to see if he could see Envy, and indeed, there was a palm tree-shaped shadow approaching them. Ed waited until he could see Envy clearly before stopping.

"Well, well, look what I found," Envy purred. "Two little runaways. What are you doing all the way out here, Fullmetal Pipsqueak?"

"Why, you…" Ed ran toward Envy, his hands curled into fists. As he got close, he jumped into the air, catching Envy off guard, and kicked with all his might. Envy flew at least thirty feet back, which startled Ed. He hadn't thought he was _that_ strong.

He and Roy were about to run away and lead Envy to the fort, but before they could, Envy recovered with record time. He tackled Roy with so much force that Roy was knocked out. Ed ran to help his superior, but before he could make it, he felt something hit his chest. Envy grinned as he lowered his throwing hand.

Ed fell forward and hit the ground with a thud. He tried to get up, but there was something pushing him down. "I found you, little brother," Envy whispered into Ed's ear before bringing a fist into Ed's skull.

-------------

The first thing Ed noticed was the searing pain. When he opened his eyes, his head hurt, so he kept them closed. He tried to move his body, but his hands were restrained. One of his legs had been chained to something.

He moaned, and his lungs felt as if they were on fire. He tried to take a deep breath to calm down, but that hurt his lungs more than moaning. His chest was bare, and he could feel a layer of cloth separating his back from the cold stone beneath him. He opened his eyes again, and saw a face. He scowled, which caused even more pain.

"Envy." Ed regretted speaking, because his lungs burned even more with the two-syllable name.

"Hey there, little brother."

"Why the hell-" Ed stopped again. The pain was too much.

"It's because even though you're the son of one of Father's creations, Father created this part of you," Envy replied, tracing the tattoo with his finger. "But you know what? I still see you as inferior." Envy gave Ed a kick in the ribs, which caused the alchemist to cringe in pain. Ed wanted to curl up into a ball, but he couldn't.

Envy leaned in close to Ed's face. "So, how's your little girlfriend doing? Does she like it in Drachma?"

Ed glared at Envy. "You…"

"Really, it's too bad we don't have time to track her down. I'd like to see just how much it would hurt you to see her die."

Ed felt a small amount of relief, followed by rage that he tried to take out on Envy. Envy watched him for a while, amused by his weak attempts. "Give it up, pipsqueak. You're just going to make your life more difficult."

"Shut up."

Envy stuck a foot on Ed's chest. "Don't tell me what to do." He pressed down slightly and Ed grimaced. He shivered involuntarily. Then it hit him. He was freezing. He looked past Envy to see snow falling outside. They were in a cave.

Envy saw Ed's gaze and looked out as well. He sighed. "Well, there goes any hope I had of getting you out of here tonight. I guess we'll just have to wait." He turned to Ed. "There's a few trees outside. If I got wood, would you be able to dry it off and make a fire?"

"Not if I can't move."

"Don't worry, pipsqueak. I'll let you go long enough for that."

Ed watched as Envy walked out into the storm. He closed his eyes and tried to focus his energy on the homunculus. He'd practiced some on Sloth back at Briggs, and he was slowly becoming aware of what he could do.

Envy didn't go far, and he came back within a few minutes with a small bundle of wood. He dropped it on the ground beside Ed and untied the alchemist's arms.

"You know that trying anything would be stupid, don't you?"

Ed nodded. He was exhausted. He looked down at his chest and cringed as he saw the black on his body. Envy laughed.

"That's a part of you now, _brother_. It'll never go away. You should get used to it."

"Stop calling me that," Ed muttered as he used alchemy to make the wood usable for a fire.

"No. I like to see that look on your face."

"What look?"

"The look of absolute horror. It's funny."

Ed tried to go through everything he had learned during his one-month stay on Yock Island. Then he remembered the information he needed and began making the fire. As he worked, he kept his eyes down. "What's so funny about it?"

"You're a moron. Here you have a wonderful gift, and you're treating it like garbage."

"I never wanted it."

"But you have it, so you might as well like it."

"I don't care. I hate you."

The fire was burning at this point in time, and Ed lay back down, his back to Envy. After a while, he heard laughter.

"What's so damn funny?" Ed snapped.

Envy kneeled down and pushed Ed onto his back. "Oh, you have no idea." Envy pinned Ed's right arm down with his knee and put a hand on Ed's chest, right over the tattoo. "You're one of us now. It wouldn't be right to hate one of your family members, would it?"

Ed's hand moved before he could stop it. It hit Envy square in the face, and the homunculus fell back, staring with a small amount of surprise at Ed. "What the hell was that for?"

"If I'm a part of your so-called family, then why are you treating me like shit?" Ed shouted.

Envy grinned evilly and moved closer to Ed. Before Ed could understand what had happened, Envy had him on his stomach, both hands twisted painfully behind his back, and a hand on his head. Ed tried to pull his head away, but Envy simply pulled at the golden hair until Ed let out a small cry of pain. "You're right. And now that I think of it, you're more like a pet than anything else. A little dog that needs to be punished for not obeying his masters."

"Then what do you want from me?" Ed cried out, biting his lip to keep from screaming in pain.

"I want you to behave. We're letting you live, so you're being ungrateful by forcing us to come after you."

"Let me go!"

Ed's demand was met with a punch in the face. "Shut up!" Envy leaned over Ed so that his mouth was right next to Ed's ear. "You're ours now."

Ed tried to struggle, but the strain was too much for his weak body to handle. "Let me go…"

"No. Not until you behave." Envy casually glanced outside. "Maybe this storm's a good thing. It'll give me time to break you."

Envy flipped Ed onto his back with ease and stood up. Ed felt a foot go into his stomach. He coughed up some blood and let his head fall back on the cold stone floor. He heard the sound of bone losing to stone, and the pain from the impact overwhelmed him, causing him to cry out as he lost consciousness.

----------------

Miles paused as he trekked down the snowy road he knew so well. He looked around, blinked, and looked around. He continued walking, dismissing what he'd heard as a trick of the wind. After all, the wind had given off human-like sounds before. Screams were no different.

However, he changed his mind when he saw the half-buried body in the distance. He moved forward quickly, keeping a watchful eye on his surroundings in case of a trap. There was none.

He carefully brushed the snow off of the unconscious Flame Alchemist and checked the Colonel's vital signs. Roy was still alive.

Miles gently shook Roy until the black-haired man opened his eyes. Roy looked around for a moment, looking genuinely confused, before he noticed Miles.

"What happened?"

Roy moved to a sitting position and began rubbing his head. "Envy was surprisingly fast. I doubt Fullmetal managed to beat him."

"You didn't see what happened?"

Roy shook his head. "No. I was knocked out."

"I can see that. Well, come on. There's no way lying out in the snow can be good for you."

Roy gratefully accepted Miles's hand and walked slowly back to Briggs with the Major supporting him.

--------------

"So you don't know where they are."

"No."

"And you let him beat you."

"…Yes."

"So now Fullmetal's back in the enemy's clutches. Nice going, Flame Alchemist."

Roy cringed at the insult Olivier had given him. Ever since he had arrived, there had been some tension between the two, resulting from their desires for the same thing. If the situation had been different, Roy would have tried to dish out a good comeback, but he was too exhausted to do so. Besides, she was right. He could have saved Ed, but he hadn't. He was a failure.

"I don't want you messing up the plans again, Mustang."

Roy cringed inwardly at this. He knew what it was implying.

"That's why you're going to find Fullmetal and bring him back here."

…Or so he thought. He was surprised at this. The cold leader of the north was giving him a second chance. Him. The man who stood in her way of getting to the top of the country. He wanted very much to rub it in Ed's face at that moment.

But of course Ed wasn't there. Roy saluted. "I will bring him back."

"You'd better. That kid may be an idiot but he has abilities we need in order to win. If you don't get him back, then don't come back here at all."

"I won't."

---------------

Yeah, I believe in EdWin and Royai, because both are hinted at strongly in the manga coughchapter58cough

Yeah… I guess it's only EdWin that's hinted at in that one scene, but it's all there… I think…


	15. Broken

The snow hadn't let up by the time Ed managed to open his eyes. He looked wearily around the cave, his head pounding. Envy was sitting next to the fire, poking at it with a stick. The fire had almost died, which explained why Ed was so cold.

Envy looked over at Ed. "Wait here. I'm going to get more wood."

Ed snorted. "What, you think I can just get up and walk out of here?"

Envy walked over to Ed, kneeled down, and moved his face so close to Ed's that Ed tried to pull his away, but Envy forced Ed to look at him. "As a matter of fact, I do. Or have you not noticed that your arms and legs are free?"

Ed hadn't noticed. "Why?" he asked.

"Because I do not want to take care of you. If you can do things on your own, then you're going to do them. There is no way in hell I'm going to sink down to that level." Envy roughly pushed Ed's head back. "Now stay here."

Ed watched as Envy left the cave and considered running away. But then his new inner sense told him not to do that, so he resisted the urge. Besides, he was in too much pain to make it very far.

Once the fire was going again, Ed found himself sitting and staring into it. The only thing that brought him out of this trance was Envy shoving something under his nose.

"Eat it. I'm not going to let you starve to death."

Ed took the food and tried to eat, but as soon as he swallowed, he began retching uncontrollably, and the food came back out. Luckily, Envy had had the sense to rush Ed outside, so the cave remained clean, and more importantly, odorless.

Ed lay on his side, staring into the fire. The blanket he'd been sleeping on was now covering him lightly, and Ed moved so that it protected him from the cold stone floor.

A few hours later, Envy tried to get Ed to eat again. The results were the same, except that Ed had coughed up some blood as well. Envy scratched his head as he watched Ed gasp for air outside.

"Okay, I guess you'll have to go without food for a while." Envy looked at the snow. "Maybe I'll just stick with water."

Ed didn't move an inch as Envy melted some of the clean snow in a small pot. He wondered vaguely where Envy had gotten all of this, and then he realized that this cave was suspiciously convenient, especially since it had shackles bolted into the stone.

He decided to ask Envy. After all, how could Envy possibly make Ed feel worse? Of course, Ed had forgotten about emotional torture.

Envy grinned as he reminisced about the cave. "Ah, yeah, this place. It's been here for most of my life, and I used it when someone like you tried to escape from us and blurt out our secrets. Actually, he died with those restraints still attached to him."

Ed felt sick. He ran outside, and Envy followed with a resigned sigh to make sure Ed didn't puke all over himself. Luckily for Ed, he didn't. Envy gave him some time to calm down before bringing him back inside.

Ed slept for several hours after that. When he woke up, the snow was still falling. He looked over at Envy. The homunculus was sitting in front of the fire, staring at Ed with a smug grin on his face.

"Sleep well?"

Ed thought back to the multiple dreams he'd had. "No, but I guess that's part of your little plan for breaking me, right?"

"No, but it did make my job easier."

Ed shakily got to his feet and glared at Envy before sprinting out of the cave and into the white. He didn't get far before his legs gave out and he fell into the snow. He started. He'd forgotten that his shirt had been taken off.

Envy grabbed him roughly by the arm and began pulling him back to the cave. Ed tried to struggle, but his body was too weak. Once inside the cave, Envy pushed him down and shackled his arms.

"You little sneak, don't ever try running off again," Envy said before bringing his foot down into Ed's chest. Ed bit his lip, trying not to scream. Instead, his lip began bleeding profusely. Envy kicked him again before leaving him alone. Ed felt tears roll down his face.

--------------

To his surprise, Ed woke up with a bundle of cloth under his head. He looked around and saw Envy working on the fire. The homunculus stared into the flames for a while before turning to Ed.

"I'd like to know something."

Ed was quiet.

"What exactly can you do with your new body?"

Ed looked away. "I don't know."

"Is that so?" Envy asked.

"Yeah, it is."

"Damn." Envy released Ed's arms from the restraints and gave him some water. Ed stared at the dark cave entrance as he drank it.

"It's still snowing," Ed muttered.

"No, really? I hadn't noticed," Envy shot back, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"It'll stop by tomorrow morning."

"How do you know?"

Ed shrugged. "I'm just guessing, but it's slowing down, so there's a good chance it'll stop."

Envy looked outside. "That's good. I'm sick of sitting around in here. You're rather boring when you're so out of it."

"Shut up."

Envy smirked and stood up. "You're trying to tell me what to do again. Don't you remember me saying I didn't like that?"

Ed stared blankly at the cave wall. He knew what was coming, but he wasn't about to let Envy think it would affect him. He simply braced himself for another attack.

Envy stared at Ed for a while. "What, are you giving up already?"

Ed was silent.

"Okay, then. Here's the deal. If you admit that I beat you and swear not to cause trouble, I'll be nicer."

"And if I don't?"

"The answer to that is pretty obvious, isn't it?"

Ed thought hard about it for a while. On the one hand, if he gave up, he'd be in a lot less pain. On the other hand, if he gave up, there was a good chance that they'd lose the fight, and Ed didn't want to be responsible for the deaths of thousands of innocent people. He shook his head.

"Eh? What's that supposed to mean?" Envy asked.

"There's no way in hell I'll ever lose to you," Ed replied. Envy smirked and roughly pushed Ed forward so that the alchemist landed on the ground with a sickening crack. Ed cried out at the sudden pain in his ribcage. Envy leaned in close to Ed's ear.

"I promise you, you will be broken. I have no problem with beating you within an inch of your life."

Ed groaned from his place on the ground. He watched the fire burn as he slowly lost consciousness.

--------------

Al stared blankly at the ceiling. It was what he had been doing for the past several days. Nothing seemed to bring him out of it, not even the food that was brought into his room by Greed. Al had called him Ling once, and all Greed had done was stick a piece of food into Al's mouth.

"_I'd rather not have you starve to death, okay?"_

Al heard the door open, and waited for Greed to come into view. But this time it wasn't Greed. It was someone else.

"Hello, Alphonse."

Al looked at Wrath's face with a complete lack of interest. Then he resumed his inspection of the ceiling.

"Oh, come now, the ceiling can't be _that_ interesting."

"Yes it is," Al replied without any emotion in his voice.

"Then take a break from it and listen to me."

Al merely grunted an acknowledgement.

"Your brother has escaped."

Al blinked in surprise. He hadn't expected that. "What?"

"A few weeks ago, the same experiment that was performed on you was performed on him. Afterwards, he seemed to forget himself and he ran off. Since then, there have been reports of him being in the south, the west, even the north."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Because you have a right to know. He _is_ your brother, after all."

Al was quiet for a while. "That experiment. What happened with it?"

"As far as we know, it succeeded. However, we haven't been able to observe your brother, as he's been gone for so long. With the Flame Alchemist, no less." Wrath began walking to the door. "Envy has made his way to the north. I will be going there in a few days myself." He stopped walking. "It would be interesting to see how much of his humanity your brother has retained."

Al sat up and tried to ask a question, but the door closed before he could get a word out. He fell back on his bed, tears streaming down his face. "Brother…"

-------------

Ed woke up with a pounding headache. He groaned as he tried to make sense of his surroundings. Envy wasn't in the cave.

Ed rolled over onto his side and pulled his blanket closer around him. He was cold. The fire had gone out, and the heat in the cave was slowly ebbing away. Sunlight was coming in through the cave entrance. The snow had stopped.

Ed shakily got to his feet and walked outside. He looked around. Envy was nearby, gathering snow in a pot. He looked up when he realized Ed was watching him.

"Get back inside."

Ed ignored him. He was cold, but he was enjoying the sun on his face. It was almost warmer outside than in the cave.

Envy sighed and walked up to Ed. He grabbed Ed's arm and pulled him inside. "Stay here. And get the fire going again. I'm not in the mood to freeze."

"Fine." Ed sat down and did as he was told. He stared at the flames as Envy came in. "How long are we staying here?"

"We're leaving today."

Ed's eyes narrowed. "What, I thought you were trying to break me."

"Shut up. There are plenty of ways I could do that, but I'm sick of staying in this stinking cave. It smells like blood too."

Ed rolled his eyes. "Gee, I wonder why."

"You've sure got a lot of energy today. Hungry?"

Ed shrugged. Envy pulled out some food and handed it to him. "Let's see if you can actually eat it now."

Ed had the same reaction as usual, and Envy waited patiently for him to get over it. "I guess that answers that question."

Ed barely made it back into the cave before he collapsed. His chest ached terribly. Getting sick with broken ribs was not his idea of a good time. He took a shaky breath and tried to move back to his 'bed.' Envy sighed when he saw just how hard it was for Ed and moved him over.

"You're pathetic."

"Shut up."

Envy smirked and watched as Ed closed his eyes. "You only have a few hours, pipsqueak. Then we leave."

"Leave for Central?" Ed asked wearily.

"Exactly." Envy patted Ed on the head. "You know, you're a lot more stubborn when your little friend can't be hurt."

"Leave me alone."

"Can't do that. Hey, you know what? It's fun messing around with someone's emotions. Like yours. And that man…"

Ed opened his eyes again. "What man?"

Envy grinned evilly. "Oh, I'm sure you know who. I transformed into his wife, and after that, killing him was easy."

_Hughes…?_ "You bastard!" Ed shouted, trying to get to his feet. He wanted very much to kill Envy.

Envy pushed Ed down and moved his face within inches of Ed's. "Oh, poor you. I killed your precious friend." Envy kicked Ed in the ribs, causing Ed to spit up blood. "Now get some sleep. We're leaving soon."

But Ed didn't sleep at all. After a few minutes, he opened one eye and looked at Envy. The homunculus had his back turned to Ed. After a while, Envy got up and went outside. Ed closed his eyes again.

_Get up._

Ed opened his eyes. "What the…"

_Edward, get up. Get out of here._

"Who-"

_Trust me. I know the homunculi very well. You _will_ be able to escape if you listen to me._

"Wait…"

_Don't speak out loud. After all, I'm inside you._

_Okay,_ Ed thought. _You want me to leave?_

_Yes. Get out of here. It may be hard, and it will definitely be painful, but you can do it. I'll help however I can._

_Who are you?_

_It doesn't matter at the moment. Just go._

_Okay._ Ed stood up and walked shakily to the cave entrance. He looked around. Envy was nowhere to be seen._ Now what?_

_Go straight. And go as fast as you can. Actually, use alchemy to make a path._

_Okay._

Ed brought his hands together and placed them on the snow in front of him, opening a pathway for him to go through. He walked as quickly as he could down it and transmuted it back to normal afterwards, hoping that it would prevent Envy from knowing exactly where Ed was going. After a while, Ed came to a road.

_Can you continue?_

_Yeah._

_Then turn right and follow this road for a little bit. Then someone will be able to help you._

_How do you know all this?_

_Isn't it obvious? There's bound to be someone who wants you back at Briggs. After all, you can fight the homunculi better than anyone up there._

_Ah, right._ Ed staggered wearily down the road. After a while, his legs refused to respond, and he tripped. He landed face-first on the snowy road.

_Get up,_ commanded the voice.

_I… can't…_ Ed replied. _It hurts…_

---------------

Roy walked down the road with all senses alert. He'd been searching the area for a long time, but he couldn't determine just where Envy was. He knew that the homunculus was probably still in the area because of the storm, but he knew nothing else.

He sighed as he looked down the road. Then he gasped. There was a dark object lying in the snow. Roy ran forward and swore when he saw just what the object was. Ed coughed, and blood came out of his mouth. He looked up at Roy with haunted eyes. "Colonel…"

"Fullmetal! What the hell happened to you?"

Ed looked down. Roy heard a sob. He sighed. "Can you walk?"

Ed shook his head.

"Okay. I'll carry you. Just hold on."

Ed let out a moan as Roy picked him up and began walking back toward Briggs. "Don't worry, Fullmetal, I'll get you up there in no time. And then someone can help you."

"Colonel…"

"Don't talk. You need to conserve your energy."

"Please…"

"Shh."

"Roy…"

Roy blinked. Ed rarely used his first name. "What is it?"

"Envy… he…"

"He did this to you?"

Ed nodded. "He also… Hu…" Ed curled his hands into fists.

"What was that?"

"Hughes… I know you want revenge… it was Envy…"

Roy tightened his grip on Ed. "Okay… Don't worry about that right now. There's a car coming. We might be able to get a ride."

The car stopped next to Roy and the back window opened slowly. Roy looked with dismay at the person sitting inside.

"Well, well, it's the two stray dogs I've been looking for," Wrath said. "What are you doing all the way up here?"

Roy bit his lip and tightened his grip on Ed. Wrath looked at the unconscious boy and opened his door.

"Get in. We can't have him dying."

Roy gently placed Ed on the seat and sat next to him, taking a moment to wipe some of the blood off of Ed's face. Wrath got in and the car started again. It was dead silent inside the vehicle, and when the ride was over, Roy breathed a silent sigh of relief. Then he was arrested and put into a prison cell.

---------------

Having spies in Central when plotting to fight against a corrupt government was a very good idea. Without these people, the Major General would have been caught off guard at the Fuhrer's arrival, and their plans would most likely have been ruined. However, she had been warned, and she now walked calmly behind King Bradley as they headed toward the room where Edward Elric was being treated.

"As I recall, you had arrested the Fullmetal Alchemist and his brother the previous time they had come up here, correct?"

"That's right."

"And you sent that chimera back underground?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good, good."

"If I may ask, sir, what exactly have those two done against the military?"

"They have come up with a conspiracy theory and are trying to overthrow us."

"And they're enough of a threat for you to come up here in person?"

"You're skeptical? Ah, well, I suppose it is hard to believe. Actually, the Fullmetal Alchemist has had rather bad luck lately. It seems he's been subjected to a rather inhumane experiment, which may explain the state he's in at the moment."

"How cruel."

"Indeed. Ah, yes, I have a subordinate who may come up here. He was assigned with the task of looking for Mr. Elric, and I wish to see him as soon as he arrives, if he does arrive here during my stay."

"Of course."

By then, they had arrived at the medical area, and Olivier quietly opened the door. Ed was asleep on one of the beds. Olivier turned to the person who was taking care of him.

"What's the report?"

"He'll survive, but he isn't going to be moving for a while. We've got multiple head injuries and heavy damage to his chest, so it's hard for him to breathe without feeling a whole lot of pain. I'm giving him painkillers, but that probably won't be enough. He'll just have to deal with it for now."

"Has he said anything?" Bradley asked.

"Not really. For the most part, he's been silent, and when he does try to talk, it's impossible to understand him."

"Is there anything else that can be done?"

"Not really. I did everything I could, the only thing that'll help now is rest."

"Then I want him moved into the prison with Mustang."

Olivier saluted. "Yes, sir."

After the Fuhrer left the room, Olivier looked over at Ed. "So what did he say?"

"What, the kid? He said something about Envy, but it was hard to tell what he was talking about."

"All right. You did well. Get someone to bring him down to the prison. I have some things to take care of."

"Will do."

-----dash-------

Roy looked with concern at the alchemist on the bed next to his. Ed hadn't moved since arriving in his cell, and his face was contorted in pain. After a while, he opened his eyes, and Roy stared at him with hope, but then Ed simply looked around before closing them again.

An hour or so passed in silence. Ed opened his eyes again, this time looking directly at Roy. "What's going on?"

"The Fuhrer found us on his way to Briggs. We're in a prison cell at the moment."

Ed cringed.

"Don't worry, Envy isn't here."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"What's… what'll happen now?"

"We're waiting until you're fit to travel. After that… we'll be going back."

"I don't want to."

"I know, but we don't have a choice. How are you doing?"

"It hurts…" Ed's stomach growled.

"When was the last time you ate?"

"Before Envy…"

"He starved you?" Roy was now wishing Envy was nearby, so he could torment the homunculus ten times more than he'd wanted to after finding out about Hughes.

"No… I just couldn't eat… Got sick…"

Roy's previous desires didn't die down much. He put a hand on Ed's forehead and wasn't surprised to find that he was burning up. Ed looked at Roy for a while. Something about those eyes worried Roy immensely. They looked lifeless. The last time Roy had seen that look in Ed's eyes was when he had first met the boy, but this time seemed much worse.

"What did he do to you?"

"All this…"

"Did he do anything else?"

"No… I'm hungry."

"Don't worry, we'll get you something to eat soon."

----------------

My knee hurts. Weird.


	16. Healing

Al was staring at the ceiling when the door opened and Father entered the room. He didn't move until Father was standing right next to him, blocking Al's view of the ceiling.

"It seems your brother has been found in the north."

_Damn it…_ Al thought.

"I have instructed Envy to keep Edward immobile for the moment. He needs to learn his place."

_What exactly does he mean by immobile?_ Al wondered._ And why don't they just use Winry for that? Although I won't complain if they don't…_

"You will be seeing him soon."

Al watched as Father left the room. A few minutes later, the door opened, and Greed came into the room.

"Hey," Greed said, sitting down on a nearby chair.

"What are you doing here?" Al asked.

"I'm bored. And that guy doesn't want me going to the surface for a while."

"So what, you're just here to bug me?"

"Pretty much."

The room was silent for a while. Then Greed spoke again. "You know, your brother's pretty fast. Even if I hadn't given him a head start, I still couldn't have kept up with him."

"Huh?"

"When he was running away after that experiment. I caught him, but when he asked me to let go, I just couldn't resist seeing how far he'd get. But I didn't tell Father or Envy. They would have been pissed."

"Wait, you let him go?"

"That's right."

"Why?"

Greed shrugged. "Because he asked me to. Well, he asked his friend first, but then he asked me."

Al raised an eyebrow. "That doesn't sound like that's how you're supposed to act."

"And that's why I didn't tell them."

"Does that mean you don't like them?"

Greed shrugged again. "I just like being able to do what I want. And maybe it's because of this guy in here," at this Greed pounded his chest. "But I want to help you guys."

"What, you mean Ling?"

"That's right. So… I take it you'd prefer not to be here?"

"Yeah, but if they have my brother…"

"They won't kill him. And now that your little friend is out of the country and too hard to find within the amount of time we have left, there isn't much holding you back, is there?"

"Wait, what do you mean? Who made it out of the country?"

"That girl they moved to Central so they could bring her into this more easily. She and some other woman made it to Drachma."

"Wait, they made it out?"

"Yes. They're safe now."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Because if you didn't know, then you'd still think her life is in danger and then you'd feel like you have to stay here. The way out of here is easy. The only ones you'd have to deal with are Gluttony and Pride, and Pride's probably not going to be around. So just hurry and you'll make it out."

"But what about the chimeras that guard the place?"

"Oh, those? There are only a few. Scar wiped most of them out, remember? And they haven't bothered to make any more."

"So… is it safe to go?"

"Yes."

"What about my father?"

"Don't worry about that. Just go."

"Shouldn't I wait until you aren't around?"

"Okay, fine, wait for five minutes and then go."

Al waited for Greed to leave, not quite sure if this was a trick or not. Then he thought about the Greed he had met in Dublith, and about Ling, and decided to go through with his plan. He waited for five minutes before using alchemy on the door.

Once he was in the city, Al made his way through the alleys and deserted streets to an area where he hoped he could meet Scar. To his surprise and, strangely, his joy, Scar seemed to be waiting for him. He raised an eyebrow as Al approached.

"What are you doing here?" he asked. "Aren't they threatening your friend to keep you in line?"

"She got away. They can't use her against us anymore."

"Where's your brother?"

"…In the north. They caught him."

"Did he run away?"

"Yeah."

It was quiet for a moment. Then Scar spoke again. "I heard that Mustang ran off."

"Yeah, I think he was with my brother."

"Why?"

"You mean why did they leave?"

"Yes. Isn't there a lot that needs to be done here?"

"Well, yeah, but… there's also a lot that needs to be done in the north, so…"

"Such as preventing another war?"

"Right."

"I suppose they found the information I gave you."

"I don't know for sure, but I gave it to my brother, so it should be safe. Unless…"

"Unless what?"

Al shook his head. "I don't know. I haven't seen him since I gave it to him."

Scar narrowed his eyes. "Why not?"

"They haven't let us be near each other."

"So then how do you know that he escaped?"

"They told me."

"Are you sure it isn't a lie?"

Al thought about it for a moment. "Yes."

"What are you going to do now?"

"I don't know. What can I do?"

"…Come with me."

--------------

Roy waited impatiently for Ed to say something, anything. The silence was beginning to get to him, and he found himself wondering if Ed was really alive. After a while, he couldn't take it anymore.

"Edward."

Ed looked at him with the same blank eyes Roy had seen before. "What?"

"How are you doing?"

"Not so good." The words seemed forced. Then again, with all the damage Envy had dealt to him, Roy was amazed Ed had been able to speak before now.

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

"……"

"What was that?"

"Leave me alone."

True, Roy had heard Ed say that dozens of times, but something about the way he said it this time concerned him. "I can't do that."

"Why not?"

"Because I've been in charge of you for almost five years, and old habits die hard."

Ed stared hard at Roy for a while. "You really want to help?"

"Yes."

"Then kill me."

Roy resisted the urge to slap Ed in the face for suggesting something like that. "Excuse me?"

"I can't stand this anymore. I can't do anything useful. All I can do is get captured by the enemy and cause trouble for everyone."

"You aren't causing trouble."

"Then why are we in a prison cell?"

"Because of bad timing. It happens."

"But if you hadn't been looking for me you wouldn't be here."

"It doesn't matter. Fullmetal, are you forgetting about-" Roy cut himself off as the door opened and Wrath entered the room. Ed kept his eyes open, but he didn't acknowledge the Fuhrer's presence.

"I see you're awake, Edward. How are you doing?"

Ed was quiet.

"I asked you a question."

Roy looked from Ed to the Fuhrer and decided to intervene. "He's been having some troubles speaking."

"Ah, I see." Wrath gestured to a nearby soldier, who came over immediately. "Would you take Mustang out of the room? I'd like to be alone with Mr. Elric for a while."

"Yes, sir."

---------------

"So, I assume you met Envy?"

Ed cringed. Yeah, he had met Envy, but he wasn't happy about it at all.

"I'll take that as a yes. How did you get away from him?"

"I… don't know…"

"And why is that?"

"I just don't…"

"I see. Let me see it."

"See what?"

"Your side. I want to know if there have been any changes."

Ed weakly pulled up the shirt so that the majority of the tattoo was revealed. He couldn't move it any more without sending pain through his chest. He waited as Wrath inspected the mark.

"Have you noticed anything different about yourself?"

"No."

"Nothing at all?"

"Nothing."

"I see. Now then, Envy should be arriving here soon. Once he does, he will be continuing his work. Unless you believe he's accomplished his goal?"

Ed squeezed his eyes shut. He let out a small whimper. He felt pathetic. He didn't want to admit defeat, but he didn't want to be stuck with the psychotic palm tree again.

"If you're giving up then just say so. Otherwise I'll leave you to Envy."

"I…"

"Yes?"

"Give up…"

"Good. We leave in a week. I expect you to go by what you just said, Edward. If you don't…"

"I get it."

"Good." Wrath left the cell. Moments later, Roy came back in, but Ed had fallen asleep.

----------------

"Wait, you want me to do what?"

"You heard me. If you know Xingese alchemy then it won't matter if that man repeats what he did that time under Central."

"Yeah, but is there really time for that?"

Scar looked at Mei Chan, who nodded and said, "Enough to know the basics."

"Then it's settled. You two will focus on that and I'll focus on finding a weakness we can exploit. Got it?"

Al nodded.

"Good. Now get to work. I have some things I need to do."

"Right."

Al sat down and listened to the explanation that Mei Chan had given Dr. Marcoh months earlier. After she demonstrated a few things, Al suddenly realized something.

"So if it works with a flow, that means you can heal things if the flow hasn't stopped?"

"That's right."

"Then what about someone who's been paralyzed? I mean, the circulatory system still works, it's just the nervous system that's been severed…"

Mei Chan thought about it for a while. "Yes, it would probably work. Why, do you know someone who's been paralyzed?"

Al nodded. "By one of the homunculi. Colonel Mustang killed her, but not before she had…"

Mei Chan smiled at Al, who couldn't help blushing a little. "Do you want me to heal this person?"

"I-if you could… I mean, you don't have to…"

"If he'll be able to help us, then I'm willing to help."

"Th-thank you."

"Where is he?"

Al thought hard about it for a while. "I'm not sure, but I know someone who'd know…"

---------------

Alex Louis Armstrong was strolling through the park, trying to think things through, when he heard a voice calling his name. He turned to see a small figure waving to him from behind a tree. He looked around and casually walked over, sitting down underneath said tree.

"What is it, Alphonse?" he asked in a low voice, pulling out a notebook and looking up as if he were about to sketch something.

"Do you know where Havoc is?" Al asked.

"Yes, I do. Why do you ask?"

"There's a way to heal him."

Armstrong nearly tackled Al in a hug, but he restrained himself. "Are you positive?"

"Yes. I know for a fact that it would work."

"Then let me write down the address for you. But be careful. The military is aware of your absence and they might expect you to meet up with him."

"I know. I'll be careful."

Armstrong quickly wrote down the address and tore that page out of the notebook he crumpled it into a little ball and set it down beside him. He quickly did the same thing with a blank piece of paper and set it beside him right after Al grabbed the first one.

"Thanks."

"No problem. Have you heard from your brother?"

"No. I didn't even know he was gone until a couple of days ago."

"That's too bad. I'm sure he'll be fine, though."

"Yeah, probably. Thanks again, Major. I have to go now."

"Farewell."

-------------

Havoc was sitting in his room, using his strength training dealeys he got from Breda, when he heard a knock on the window.

_The window?_ he thought with confusion. _Isn't this the second story…?_

He looked over at the window. Sure enough, there was a small hand waving to him. He sat up as much as he could and reached over to the window, opening it as far as it would go. Then he checked the door. It was closed.

Havoc watched with confusion as a young boy crawled through and dropped to the floor. He seemed vaguely familiar…

"Alphonse?" he asked incredulously.

"Yeah. It's me."

"What are you doing here? And why did you come through the window?"

"What, do you expect me to just show up at a house that's watched by the military and knock on the front door when I'm a fugitive?"

"Oh yeah, I heard about that… But why are you here?"

"I have good news," Al said with a smile.

"What?"

"I met someone who can help you. If you want."

"WHAT?"

Al ducked as the door flew open and someone came rushing to Havoc's side. "What's wrong? Are you okay?"

"Uh, yeah, I just… uh… was practicing my singing!"

"What the hell? You don't sing like that…"

"Yeah, well that's why I need to practice," Havoc said with a frown. The man sighed and left the room.

"You nearly gave me a heart attack."

As the door closed, Havoc could hear snickering. "Oh, like you could have come up with something better, Al."

Al stood up and checked the door again. "No, it's just… Anyway, what do you think?"

Havoc smiled. "Thanks. I've missed being able to walk. When…"

"Um… she can do it anytime… it doesn't really matter when, and…"

"Yeah?"

"She's outside right now."

"DAMMIT COULD YOU AT LEAST GIVE ME A LITTLE MORE WARNING?"

Al ducked again, but this time there was only a pounding on the wall next behind Havoc's bed. "Stop singing, Havoc, it's giving us all a headache!"

"Sorry!" Havoc shouted before turning back to Al. "So what, you're saying to do it now?"

"Well, not if it doesn't work out right now…"

"I'm fine with that, but how am I supposed to get out of here without anyone noticing?"

"Um…" Al pointed to the window.

Havoc shook his head. "Wow, you really are like your brother."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Al asked indignantly.

"Nothing, nothing. So, why don't we get this over with? I'm getting sick of not being able to help."

---------------

"Fullmetal?"

Ed opened his eyes and looked up to see Roy standing over him. He closed his eyes again. He didn't want to continue their previous conversation.

"Don't ignore me."

Ed ignored him. At this point in time, he didn't care. Like he had said to Wrath, he was giving up.

"Hey, I'm talking to you."

Ed opened his eyes with some irritation. He looked up at Roy. "What?" He hated how pathetic his voice sounded.

"I want to know what happened."

"What are you talking about?"

"When the Fuhrer came in here."

"Oh, that." Ed pushed himself to a sitting position. It hurt, but he wanted to be closer to Roy's eye level. "I told him I'm giving up."

"Why?"

"You know why. I've had enough."

"So you're just going to let this happen?"

"It's not like I can do anything about it anyway." He couldn't, right? Sure, he had revealed the plot, and he had even stopped Sloth, and Roy had been able to kill Lust, but other than that, everything was going well for the enemy. And now Winry had to start a new life because of him. His family was imprisoned, and-

Roy grabbed Ed by the shirt and slammed him against the wall. Ed gasped. The man who was in charge of the prison where the two were being kept came over to the cell. "Hey…"

"Fullmetal, I'm not letting go until I know for a fact that you'll listen to me, got it?"

Ed nodded. "I'll listen."

Roy let go. "No interruptions."

"Fine."

Once he was sure that Roy wouldn't go crazy, the man went back to whatever he was doing, giving Roy a chance to talk to Ed in private. Roy sat next to Ed on the bed and watched as Ed wrapped his arms around his knees.

"I never want to hear something like that from you again."

"But-"

"I said no interruptions."

Ed grunted. Roy continued. "Don't ever say that you can't do anything. You're the most powerful alchemist I know. You've made it through everything the world has thrown at you, despite the absurdity and cruelty of it all. You've not only managed to keep your brother in this world, but you brought his body back as well. Just because someone beat you to the point where you want to die doesn't mean you're useless."

"Yeah, so I've managed to do a few things. So what?"

"Do you really want Envy to win? Even after everything he's done? He started Ishbal. He killed Hughes. He fucking beat the crap out of you just because you don't want to be near him. Aren't you doing exactly what he wants?"

"I know, okay?" Ed shot back. "I know that Envy's a piece of shit. I know he needs to be taken down. I just don't know what I can do anymore! I don't know… those freaks turned me into one of them. What if my body turns against me?"

"Has it done that yet?"

"No, but-"

"If your body could turn against you, don't you think it would have happened already?"

"I don't know!" Ed hid his head in his arms.

"_I_ think it would have happened by now. Edward, do you think I can just let you go off and become the type of person you never wanted to be?"

"I don't know," Ed sobbed.

"I didn't give up on Havoc, so why would I give up on you?"

"I don't know."

"Don't give up, Ed. You aren't that kind of person."

Ed buried his head deeper in his arms. "Damn it…" He began to cry. Roy sat beside him as he cried, not saying anything but offering any support he could give. After a while, Ed leaned his head back against the wall. His face was still damp and his eyes were red. "Thank you."

He closed his eyes and let himself rest. For the first time since Winry left, he felt like things would work out, somehow.

-------------

Yeah, my knee still hurts some. I think I did something to it…


	17. Conflict

Roy was still sitting on Ed's bed when Riza came for a brief visit. He was surprised that she was risking herself by coming, but he was also grateful. She looked at the two in the cell for a moment before smiling.

"I take it you talked to him?" She asked, gesturing to Ed, who was sleeping peacefully, his head resting on Roy's leg.

"Yes. He should be fine now."

"You know, you don't have to sit there."

"I know, but I don't want to disturb him. And besides, my leg's numb."

Riza laughed. "You'd make a good father."

"What makes you say that?" Roy asked, genuinely confused.

"Look at him," Riza said, gesturing to Ed. "He trusts you. Even if he doesn't admit it, it's obvious. Besides, why do you think he came to you first?"

"Probably because there wasn't anyone else he could turn to," Roy muttered.

"But he knows where my apartment is, and it's much closer to where he was than yours is."

"But you were gone."

"But he didn't know that. And he said it himself, didn't he? He went directly from where he woke up to your place. And it took a while, but didn't he willingly explain everything to you? And," Riza continued. "Look at his face. I don't think I've ever seen him so peaceful after something so traumatizing."

"Not even when he spent the night at your place?"

"His mind was younger then. I'm talking about the incidents with his normal state of mind."

Roy looked at Ed. The young alchemist's hands were curled into fists, and he had lost much of the look he'd gained since meeting Envy. "I guess I can see that."

Roy looked down as Ed shifted his weight and opened his eyes. It took him a while to understand what was going on. Then he looked at Roy.

"Hey," Roy said, a smile tugging at the edge of his lips. "Would you mind moving your head? I'd kind of like to be able to feel my leg."

"Oh. Sorry." Ed slowly sat up, and Roy managed to get off of Ed's bed and onto his own.

"Feeling better?" Roy asked as he tried to bring feeling back to his leg.

"I guess." Ed crossed his legs and leaned against the wall. "It doesn't hurt as much to move anymore."

"Good." But then Roy realized it wasn't good. At least, not if they wanted to avoid going back to Central. He decided that something needed to be done. "Anyway, I'd appreciate if you didn't fall asleep on me like that. It's rather awkward having such a little kid using my leg as a pillow."

Ed did what Roy expected him to. "WHO'S SO SHORT THAT EVERYONE THINKS HE'S A LITTLE KID WHO NEEDS EMOTIONAL SUPPORT FROM A WET MATCHSTICK WHEN HIS BROTHER ISN'T AROUND TO HELP HIM INSTEAD?!?!?!?!?!!" Ed screamed this as he got up and punched his superior in the face, losing his balance in the process and falling to the hard floor with a cry of dismay.

Roy ignored his throbbing face and reached down to help Ed back onto the bed. He was somewhat surprised to see blood running down his face from his mouth. That got the nearby soldier's attention. "Hey, what happened?"

"He got angry and lost his footing," Riza calmly explained, shooting Roy a death glare that said she knew exactly why he had provoked Ed.

"Ah, damn, we need to get some help."

As the soldier ran off, Riza disappeared, leaving Ed and Roy alone for the moment. Roy looked down at Ed's face, hoping that he hadn't overdone it. Ed opened his eyes and gave Roy a death glare. Roy saw a movement down by Ed's waist and saw that Ed had curled his hand into a fist, and was holding out a certain finger in order to get a certain message across to Roy.

-------------

Roy was standing in the medical room when Olivier came to ask about the incident in the prison that had resulted in Ed being injured (again). When the doctor lady pointed to Roy, she turned on him, her face a mask of fury.

"Just what did you do? And how the hell did you get a black eye?"

"He called me short so I punched him," Ed muttered from his position on the bed. "It was completely worth it, too."

"Okay… any reason you chose now to provoke him?" Olivier asked, her voice quiet enough so that Ed wouldn't hear her.

Roy shrugged. Olivier glared at him for a moment before signaling to one of her soldiers. "Get him out of here."

Once Roy was gone, Olivier turned to the doctor lady. "So what damage did that moron Flame Alchemist do this time?"

"Well, he was almost to the point where he would be able to travel, but thanks to all this, we'll have to wait a few days."

"I'm sure the Fuhrer and his little friend will be disappointed," Olivier muttered. At that moment, someone entered the room. _Speak of the devil…_

--------------

"So, we're stuck here for a while longer," Ed muttered.

"That's right."

"And you knew that's what would happen when you said that to me."

"Yep."

Ed was quiet for a while. "Well, it was still worth it." Ed shifted so that he was lying on his side, facing Roy. "But you know the best part?"

"We won't be going back to Central just yet?"

"Nope. I just nailed you in the face and you can't do anything about it."

"What makes you think I can't do anything about it?"

"How many people do you think would be happy to know you attacked a severely injured boy just because you wanted revenge?"

Roy laughed. "Ha, you think I'd go for physical revenge? No, when the time comes, I'll just tell your girlfriend about that one incident a few years ago…"

"You wouldn't dare."

"You think so?"

"If you do that then I'll tell Hawkeye about the time you-"

"That was all Havoc!"

"No it wasn't," Ed replied with a laugh that he cut short.

"Something wrong?" Roy asked, concern written all over his face (with a pink sharpie).

"Just… a little painful… and someone's coming to visit." Ed tensed and closed his eyes. "I'm not here, okay?"

"Wha-"

"I didn't mean literally! Besides, I've dealt with them more than you in the past few weeks."

"Okay, okay. I'll deal with it for you. Just… don't do anything stupid."

Ed took a pillow and put it over his head. "I never do anything stupid. Your standards are just too high."

Roy was about to retort when the door opened. Sure enough, Envy and Wrath came into the room and walked up to the cell. One of the soldiers accompanying them unlocked the door and signaled to Roy, who got up with a certain amount of unease. Ed didn't move.

--------------

Envy watched as Roy and Wrath walked out of the prison area before turning to Ed. "Come on, I know you're awake."

Ed grunted._ Okay, whoever you are, I need help._

_What do you need?_

_How do I deal with this?_

Ed heard a sigh inside his head. _He's here to see if he succeeded. Show him that he did._

_How am I supposed to do that?_

_I don't know… just see what he has to say first. Don't let him see your face._

"Hey."

Ed grunted again. Envy pulled the pillow away and grabbed Ed's head with one hand. "Do I have your attention now?"

Ed pushed the hand away. "What do you want?"

"I'm sick of you trying to hide it."

"Hide what?"

"I know you're feeling the effects of this." Ed felt a hand on his side.

"Yeah, it makes me feel like crap."

"No, that was me."

Ed started laughing. He laughed for a minute before Envy dealt a blow to the head. "Shut up!"

Ed cringed and gripped his head. _Yeah, so much for him being nice…_

_Hey, you're the one who just started laughing at random._

_But I was trying to show him just how damaging he could be._

_No, you were laughing at a mental image of Envy swaying in the wind with many other palm trees._

_Yeah, well it probably had the same effect either way._

Ed slowly let go of his head and looked up. Envy had sat down on the bed across from him with his arms crossed. He glared at Ed. "What the hell was that?"

"I don't know…"

"Okay. Let's try again. What the hell is different about your body?"

"Isn't that something you're supposed to know already?"

"No. That's why I'm asking."

Ed's mind raced as he tried to come up with a way to avoid the question. He decided to start laughing again. Envy looked at him with shock and dismay. "What the hell?"

The laughter quickly died down as a jolt of pain ran through Ed's torso. Envy grabbed Ed by the shirt and pulled him to his feet. "Hey, I want to know what's so funny."

_He's imagining you as a palm tree again,_ Ed's strange inner voice said.

_I can't tell him that, though,_ Ed thought before saying, "I don't know."

"So you're laughing at nothing?"

"I guess so…"

Envy dropped Ed none too gently and stormed out of the cell. Ed watched as the homunculus stormed out of the prison with some satisfaction.

_Great, now he thinks you're insane, and this helps us how?_

_I dunno. Maybe he'll stop being such an asshole._

_You really think that's possible?_

_In the area of him beating the crap out of me every chance he gets, yes. And besides, don't they just want me to be obedient?_

_I guess so…_

Ed returned a wave of greeting from one of the soldiers outside his cell before lying down. _Anyway, now that that's settled, why don't you tell me what the deal is?_

_You want to know more about me?_

_Yes._

_From the beginning?_

_Not right now. At the moment all I really want to know is what you're doing in my body._

The voice was silent. Ed stared at the ceiling, waiting for that silence to be broken. Finally…

_I've always been a part of you._

_Eh? Then how come you're only coming out now?_

_Because I couldn't before. Until now, I was simply a part of your body. However, when Father did what he did, he made it possible for me to… well, do this. I didn't say anything at first because you would have panicked, so I just gave you help in different ways._

_Like being able to feel the homunculi when they get close to me?_

_Actually, that's more because of something else._

_I'm confused._

_Then I'll start from the beginning. You remember seeing Envy in his true form?_

_Of course I do._

_And you understand the basics about your father?_

_Yeah, I think so._

_Then you should know what I am._

_You're… a part of the philosopher's stone?_

_Something like that. Now, Ed, when a man and woman love each other very much…_

_What the hell?_

_I have to say this. Please don't interrupt me._

_Sorry._

_Anyway, you know the whole deal with reproduction, right?_

_Yeah…_

_Well… it's kind of awkward to say, but… I sort of got… 'transferred' to your mother, and…_

_Ew!_

_Hey, at least you didn't witness it. Want me to tell you all about it?_

_NO!_

_Okay, I won't. Anyway, I went from being a part of your father's body to being a part of your body. And so I probably know you better than anyone else does, maybe even better than you know yourself._

_That would be weird…_

_Everything about this is weird, Ed._

_So then…_

_No, this doesn't make you not human. They just think it does because they don't realize I managed to retain some of my humanity. To them, I'm just a form of energy._

_But isn't that what the philosopher's stone is?_

_Yes, it is. However, I also have the ability to think for myself._

_Why do you want to help me? Don't you want to be in control at all?_

_No. It's been so long since I've been in control of my own body that I wouldn't know what to do. Besides, I want you to beat the ones who did this to me. I don't want to be this way anymore._

_I'll do my best._ Ed heard a click and looked up to see Roy entering the cell. He wasn't too happy.

"Mustang?" Ed asked cautiously as Roy practically fell onto his bed.

"Oh, hi. How did your talk with Envy go?"

"I pissed him off. He stormed off and he probably thinks I'm a raving lunatic now."

"Why's that?"

"I started laughing while he was talking to me. I never realized how well Envy would fit in on a tropical island."

"What?"

Ed folded his arms behind his head. "I got a really funny mental image of him swaying in the breeze like a palm tree. Don't ask where it came from."

Roy gave a small laugh. "Way to go. That should get him to leave you alone."

"I'd hope so." Ed was quiet for a while. "So, what now?"

"I don't know. You obviously can't do anything until you've healed some…" Roy trailed off and frowned. He looked as if he were deep in thought.

"What?" Ed asked.

"If you have the Philosopher's Stone inside you, then why haven't you regenerated at all?"

"Um, because…" _Why is that, again?_ Ed asked.

_Before that incident, it just wasn't possible, and after that…_

_Yeah?_

_I wanted to wait until a time when you really needed it. Considering how things are going, you're going to need it very badly soon._

"Fullmetal?"

"I don't know. Sorry."

"That's fine. You just scared me for a minute there."

"How so?"

"Your expression was dead serious."

"And how is that scary?"

"I didn't think it was possible for you to be serious."

Ed shifted a bit so that he could kick Roy in the leg, but he regretted it as pain shot up his spine. He went back to talking to his new companion.

_What do you mean by that?_

_I want to be able to help you, and I will definitely give myself up so that you can regenerate, but not unless you have a very good chance of dying. Oh, and also…_

_What?_

_I'm not the only part of the stone you have within you._

_Eh?_

_There is another soul, but it's resigned itself to waiting for you to give yourself a fatal wound, like me. I don't know much about how the regeneration thing works, but I'd say you have two deaths. Two times where it'll be like you're a homunculus, but then after that you're on your own. We won't be able to help you._

_Wait, why haven't I heard anything from the other soul?_

_Because it hasn't wanted to say anything. It's simply waiting for the end._

Ed closed his eyes. "I need sleep…"

"You always need sleep, Fullmetal," Roy remarked while rubbing his knee. "But you don't need to kick me so hard."

"About your question earlier…"

"Yes?"

"I guess regeneration will only happen if I'm about to die. I… have two chances. Or something like that."

"How do you know that?"

Ed shook his head. "Long story…"

---------------

Al sighed as he walked down the street, keeping his head down to hide himself from the soldiers that were patrolling nearby. Havoc had been healed, and was now making his way north to help the others. Al was going to stay in Central, but he had something he needed to do before he went back to studying with Mei Chan.

He entered the yard and made his way up to the front door, pausing for a moment before knocking. A minute or so passed before Gracia Hughes opened the door. She smiled with uncertainty as she looked at Al.

"Can I help you?"

Al blushed slightly. "Um, you probably don't recognize me, but uh…"

"Alphonse?"

Al nodded. Gracia smiled. "I heard from Winry that you succeeded. You look like your brother. What are you doing here?"

"There's… something I have to talk to you about."

Gracia nodded. "Come in."

Al sat quietly on the couch and watched as Elysia sat in her mother's lap. Gracia turned to Al. "What is it?"

"Well… the thing that Hughes found out… there's a lot involved with it, but there's a good chance of… well… it isn't safe in this country anymore."

"Not safe? In what way?"

Al took a deep breath and explained the situation as well as he could. Once he finished, he looked out the window. "So it would be a good idea to get out of here."

"That's really what's going on?"

Al nodded. "We're working as hard as we can to prevent it, but there's a chance that we might not… and I wanted you to have a chance to get out of here."

Gracia smiled. "Thank you. I have distant relatives who moved to Xing several years ago. I can take Elysia and live with them. Where's Winry?"

Al shrugged. "As far as I know, she's in Drachma. I don't know much else, though."

At that moment, the phone rang. Gracia set Elysia down and excused herself. As Al waited, Elysia made her way over to him and looked up, her eyes big.

"Why does mommy want to leave?"

Al smiled at Elysia. "She just wants to take a vacation for a while. Don't you like traveling?"

Elysia nodded. "It's fun."

Gracia came back into the room in a sort of daze. She sat down and looked straight at Al. "That was someone from the military. It seems your brother found out who killed my husband."

-------------

Olivier watched as the construction crew began the process of digging through the ground. She was following Bradley's orders without a complaint, although she had questioned it for a moment. His excuse was simply that it was for the good of the military. She had accepted that answer. She didn't want her cover to be blown.

"How soon until it's done?" asked the Fuhrer as he came up to the Major General.

"Shouldn't be too long now."

"Good, good."

At that moment, Envy walked up with a scowl on his face. Olivier looked at him questioningly as he stood next to them.

"Having troubles?" she asked.

"None at all," Envy hissed. Olivier took this moment to excuse herself, saying she had something to do.

She went to the prison in which Ed and Roy were staying. Ed was staring at the ceiling, and Roy was talking to one of the guards. She got Ed's attention and he sat up.

"What exactly did you say to Envy?" she asked.

"I didn't really _say_ anything. He just thinks I'm insane."

"You really pissed him off. I didn't feel like being around someone like that, so I came up here." She took a nearby chair and sat down. "So. Any new information?"

Ed and Roy exchanged glances before nodding. "Yeah. A lot."

"Let's hear it."

Ed was about to divulge some of what he had learned when someone came into the room. He saluted Olivier before speaking. "The team has broken through. The Fuhrer wishes for the two prisoners to go down to the tunnel with him."

"Of course," Olivier replied. "We'll be down in a moment."

-------------

"This is embarrassing," Ed muttered from his place on Roy's back.

"Would you rather walk?" Olivier asked.

"Yes."

"Too bad, Fullmetal. If you wanted to walk you shouldn't have gotten yourself injured. I am not taking any more chances with you. We need you for this fight, understood?"

"Yeah, but why him?" Ed asked, poking Roy in the face.

"He seems to have gotten used to carrying you around."

Roy wanted very much to drop Ed right there and make the alchemist walk on his own. He made it a point to ignore the banter until they arrived at their destination. _Then_ he dropped Ed, only semi-softly. Ed glared at Roy as they stood at the entrance, waiting for the ladder leading into the hole to be fully stabilized.

Envy made it a point to walk much closer to Ed than he needed to. Ed shuddered as he thought about what would happen when the homunculi found out about the disappearance of Sloth. He looked around. Bradley had waved their escort away a while ago. Roy had been left with them as well.

As they walked, Ed's mind raced to think of something, some excuse for why Sloth wasn't there. But they never came to the end. Instead, they stopped and had Ed sit on the ground.

"Now, then. We're both aware of the fact that you _do_ have powers that come from the Philosopher's Stone. And both of us would very much like to know what those powers are."

Ed kept his head down and his mouth shut until he had a sword under his chin, only a millimeter away from his throat. He looked up. Wrath had another sword pulled out, and he did not look happy.

"You should think about answering. We may be keeping you alive, but that doesn't mean we'll be treating you kindly."

Ed glared at his captors for a moment. "Fine."

Wrath didn't move the sword until Ed had finished the basic description of how his body had changed. Ed had kept his tone neutral throughout it all, hoping they wouldn't think he was happy to have these powers. He left the soul he'd talked to out of it.

"So you could track one of us if you wished?"

Ed nodded.

Envy observed Ed's face for a moment before turning to Wrath. "I say we test it out."

"Very well."

Envy pulled out a length of cloth and wrapped it around Ed's head, successfully covering his eyes. Then he walked a few feet behind Ed.

"Where is he?" Wrath asked.

"He's three meters behind me."

Envy moved.

"How about now?"

"He's leaning against the wall over there."

Envy moved again, this time behind Wrath.

"Now?"

Ed was slightly irritated by this point in time. "He's standing behind you, jumping on one foot and spinning around in circles with a stupid grin on his face."

Envy stopped jumping. "Damn, he's good."

"Are you done yet?" Ed asked.

"Yes." Envy removed the blindfold and had Ed stand up. "See, it isn't so hard to tell the truth, is it?"

Ed glared at Envy, who patted him on the head and continued walking down the tunnel. "So, you know what's at the end of this tunnel, right?"

"No."

Envy stopped. "What are you talking about? You've met him before…"

"Who?"

"Sloth, you moron! Can't you sense him?"

Ed shook his head. He could sense the homunculus, but only faintly, and the homunculus definitely wasn't at the end of the tunnel. Envy glared at Ed with suspicion.

"You can't?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"How should I know?"

Wrath watched Ed with suspicion. "Let's continue on our way, shall we?"

---------------

Ed stared at the end of the tunnel with a dead look in his eyes. He was waiting for the blow to come, knowing that Envy would do _something_ to him. But to his surprise, Envy did nothing.

"Where is he?" the homunculus asked instead.

"I don't know," Ed replied. Seriously, he didn't have a clue.

"Then who would know?"

"I don't know."

"You… if you're lying…"

"He isn't," Wrath interrupted. "Someone from this base must be working against us. Let's go to the surface."

"Right."

Ed trudged behind the two homunculi through the tunnel. When they arrived back above ground, Ed was sent back to his cell. He collapsed on his bed and didn't move until Roy poked him in the face.

"Leave me alone. I'm tired," Ed mumbled into his pillow.

"What happened?"

"They know someone here's working against them. And I had to tell them."

"What did you tell them?"

Ed picked his head up. "Just… what's different about me. I left some things out, though."

"So do they know that this entire place is against them?"

"I doubt it."

Roy stroked his chin for a moment. "Let's hope it stays that way."

------------------

Olivier stared at the hole in the ground as she contemplated the meaning of everything the homunculi had said. "You're saying it's gone?"

"That's right. The only trouble is, we don't know just how anybody from here could have possibly gotten down there. After all, I saw the construction you did to patch up the hole, and it would be impossible to have a secret entrance."

Olivier used this opportunity to gain the Fuhrer's trust. "Unless…"

"Unless what?"

"It's quite possible that someone created another entrance. We do have a few alchemists here, and one of them could have a grudge against the country. It's a shame, really. Up until now, I had assumed that they were trustworthy, or at least not stupid enough to do something so rash."

"Ah, yes. Alchemists tend to have a mind of their own when it comes to the affairs of the country. At any rate, I need to make some phone calls."

"Of course."

Once they got to a phone, however, the line was dead. This came as a surprise to Olivier, since she hadn't told anyone to cut off communications just yet. However, her surprise seemed to be all the Fuhrer needed to be convinced of her innocence.

"It seems not everyone in Briggs follows your instructions, Major General. I would like a ride into town."

However, the roads were in bad shape due to the storm that had been raging for the past several hours, and a ride to town was not an option. Olivier counted that as lucky.

-----------------

Al practically collapsed after a day of rigorous training with Mei Chan. Despite the way she looked, she was a very strict teacher, and Al had barely managed to keep up with everything. He lay on the ground and stared at the sky, wondering whether he had the energy to get to his feet and eat something.

"Shouldn't you be studying?" Al heard Scar ask from nearby. Al groaned.

"I've been studying all day. I can't anymore."

"How do you expect to fight against the enemy if you don't know how?"

"What are you, my mom? I'm not going to get better if I spend every minute doing whatever."

"Speaking of which, where is your mother?"

That caught Al off guard. He sat up and faced the Ishbalan. "You want to know?"

"Yes."

"She died when we were little."

"Ah."

It was quiet for a while. Then Al realized something. "Hey, why do you care? Didn't you hate us a while ago?"

"Your brother's not someone I want revenge against." Scar observed Al for a while. "Why are you so willing to trust me?"

Al shrugged. "I don't really know. I guess it's because my brother trusts you."

"But why would he?"

"How should I know? I'm not him…"

"No, I suppose you wouldn't know."

Al fell back and went back to staring at the sky. "Maybe he doesn't trust you anymore. I mean, even after he got his memory back, we didn't talk much about what's been going on. Most of the time he didn't even speak when I visited him."

"He didn't?"

"No. He was in the process of healing."

There was an awkward silence. After a while, Scar spoke. "You know, I wasn't trying to kill-"

"I know."

It was quiet once again. Then Scar stood up. "What would your friend say if she knew we were working together?"

Al raised an eyebrow. "Winry?" He paused. "I don't know."

"They didn't deserve to die."

"No, they didn't." Al sat up. "That's why you said you didn't deserve our protection, isn't it?"

Scar began walking away. Al watched him walk away, debating whether or not to follow him. He decided not to. Instead, he spoke. "You know, I don't hate you for what you did."

Scar paused. Al continued. "I hate what you did, but I don't hate you."

"Even after I tried to kill you both numerous times?"

"I never said I liked you. I just…"

"Forget it. I know what you're trying to say."

Al watched as Scar left the area. Then he laid his head down and closed his eyes. He was asleep within minutes.

-------------

Yay, I finally updated:D


	18. Decisions

He understood that Ed needed rest. He realized just how hard Ed had had it lately. He knew Ed was still healing. But damn it, he was bored as hell.

Roy watched Ed as he slept, literally not having anything better to do. They were alone in the room, and there was nothing to read or stare at that was any more interesting than Ed. He resisted the urge to poke Ed in the face and wake him up.

Ed rolled over on his side with a small grunt and opened his eyes. Roy watched him intensely, hoping the alchemist would say something.

"Why are you staring at me?" were the first words that came out of Ed's mouth.

Roy started, but he recovered quickly. "Because there's nothing else to do around here."

"Then go read something."

"I just said, there's _nothing else to do_."

"Nothing?"

"No."

Ed sat up with some effort and stretched. "Where is everyone?"

"I don't know. They went out about two hours ago."

"Did they say why?"

"No, but I think it has something to do with Sloth."

"Like what?"

"How should I know? Like I said, nobody told me anything. All I know is that everyone was called out to some other part of this place."

Ed frowned and closed his eyes. "I think the Fuhrer's giving some kind of speech."

"A speech?"

"Something like that. Whatever it is, it's ending now."

"Good. Maybe someone will tell us what's going on. How are you doing?"

Ed opened his eyes and glared. "Is someone paying you to ask that all the time?"

"Hey, I'm trying to be nice."

"I feel like crap. And I think it's going to be that way for a while." Ed placed a hand on his ribs. "It still hurts to speak."

"Then don't."

"Fine. Then you have to stop asking me the same question every five minutes."

"Okay, I'll stop."

Ed lay back down and said, "Good." Then, in a quieter voice, "I wonder how Al's doing."

"He's probably fine. Maybe he made it out."

"I wonder…" Ed closed his eyes.

"Fullmetal?"

"Shh."

Roy closed his mouth and waited for Ed to say something. After a while, Ed spoke. "He made it out. I _think_ he's with Mei Chan and Scar."

"You can tell?"

"Somehow, yeah."

"Does that mean he's…"

"I don't know."

Roy smirked. "That seems to be you favorite saying nowadays."

"Shut up." Ed lay on his side, facing Roy. "Hey, I was wondering… maybe it's none of my business, but what are you going to do about Envy and… Hughes?"

Roy tensed at this. "I think you know what'll happen when I get to that bastard."

"I do. I just wanted to be sure."

Roy fell back on his bed and stared at the ceiling. "To be honest, it's not so much because of Hughes that I want to get my hands on Envy. I mean, it's a major part of it, but there's something else."

Ed placed a hand on his left side. "Is it because of this?"

Roy nodded. "When I found you, out on the road… it was the worst I'd ever seen you. And in a way, it reminded me of… something."

Ed closed his eyes. "You're being a little overly protective lately."

"As opposed to…?"

"Being a bastard."

Roy chuckled. "Would you rather have me being a bastard again?"

"No."

"Then what are you complaining about?"

"I'm not complaining, I'm stating a fact."

"It sounds like you're complaining to me."

Ed pulled his pillow over his head. "You're annoying."

Roy chuckled. "It's good that you're still yourself."

"Of course I am. Why wouldn't I be?" Ed thought about it for a moment. "…Don't answer that."

Roy leaned back against the wall. "We need a plan."

"You think?"

Roy ignored Ed's sarcasm. "Got any ideas?"

Ed propped himself up on his elbows. "We need to catch the homunculi off-guard. If we do it right, we can get Envy on his own and take him down, but we'd need someone else to deal with Wrath."

Roy nodded. "We may be able to leave that up to the people here."

Ed nodded. "Major General Armstrong's pretty good with swords. She'd probably be able to deal with him, especially if she has all of Briggs on her side."

"But how would she be able to spread the word without arousing suspicion? And how would the higher-ups in Central react?"

Ed fell back, momentarily forgetting that he was injured and grunting at the pain that came. "That's the problem. If we say it was an accident, they'll be suspicious and accuse Briggs of being on Drachma's side. It would probably lead to war up here, which is what we're trying to avoid, isn't it?"

Roy nodded. "The only hope we have is that somebody in Central will prevent them from coming up here."

"Right, but who? There's only a few people we can trust down there, like my brother and… my father, and Havoc…"

"And Scar."

"But can we really trust him?" Ed asked.

Roy raised an eyebrow. "You were pretty willing to trust him when you ended up in the hospital."

"Yeah, but… never mind."

"You're still angry with him about the Rockbells, aren't you?"

Ed nodded. "I know he's on our side, but it's hard to believe that after all he's done."

"Even though he's saved your life more times by now than he's tried to take it away."

"Really?" Ed thought about it. "Yeah, I guess so. But…"

"I'm sure if Winry knew more about the details she'd be willing to accept our alliance with Scar."

"You mean you didn't tell her?"

"No, I told her, but she wasn't happy about it."

Ed sighed. "Of course she wouldn't be. I'm not happy about it either."

Roy was quiet for a minute before he heard footsteps outside. "We'll talk about this more later, okay?"

"Sure." Ed closed his eyes as the door opened and Olivier came into the room. She stopped in front of their cell and looked at the two.

"We have a problem."

----------------

"Someone cut the phone lines?" Ed asked incredulously.

"Yes. I'm doing an investigation at the moment, and the Fuhrer just finished a speech about loyalty to the military."

"But who would be stupid enough to do something like that?" Ed muttered, mostly to himself.

"I don't know, but if we're cautious, we can work this out to our advantage. At the moment, however, I'm supposed to bring you two down to the tunnel. He seems to want to speak with both of you in private."

As they made their way down to the tunnel, Ed felt a growing sense of unease. It felt like something terrible was going to happen, but he didn't know what. _Are you there?_ he thought, hoping that there would be a response.

_Yes._

_What… should I be this worried? What are they planning?_

…_I don't know. You'll just have to stay on your guard._

_But…_

_You have every reason to be nervous, but you need to be calm. After all, they think you're easy to control. Try to use that to your advantage._

_How?_

_I… don't know. Sorry._

Ed sighed and grimaced slightly. His chest was aching, and they were walking too quickly for his comfort, but he couldn't do anything about that. Finally, they arrived, and Ed found himself breathing a quiet sigh of relief as they waited for further instructions.

The Fuhrer arrived seconds later with Envy, and they entered the tunnel. Ed's unease grew with every step, and by the time they stopped walking, it was almost unbearable. He stared pointedly at the ground as Wrath spoke.

"You understand why you're here, correct?"

Since neither of them really understood and Ed didn't seem to want to open his mouth, Roy gave an answer for both of them. "No."

Wrath and Envy exchanged glances. "Let's sit down."

Ed practically collapsed on the ground, but somehow he managed to be somewhat graceful, earning only a smirk from Envy instead of some snide comment. Once they were all seated, Wrath spoke again.

"Who cut the telephone lines?"

Roy blinked. Ed continued to stare at the ground. After a minute, Roy spoke again. "I don't know."

Wrath turned to Ed. "Edward?"

Ed shook his head. Envy sighed, stood up, and began pacing. "They aren't lying. Might as well go on to the next part."

"Of course." Wrath looked directly at Ed. "We have instructions for you."

Ed kept his head down, but he turned his eyes so that he could see Wrath. "For what?"

"Sloth is missing. I know you know where he is. I also realize that you're planning to continue fighting against us. Also…"

Ed waited for Wrath to continue, but he didn't. Instead, Envy came behind Ed and kneeled so that his mouth was right next to Ed's ear. "We know you love her."

Ed didn't move. Envy pulled Ed's head back and looked straight into his eyes. "I guess you don't understand what I meant by that. You see, it is painfully easy to infiltrate another country when you have the majority of the government on your side. In fact, we have spies up north right now. They're perfectly willing to follow our instructions."

Ed's feeling of unease grew into fear, but he did his best to keep his face from revealing any emotions. It wasn't enough, however, and Envy laughed. "Aw, how sweet. You really do love her. You know how you can save her?"

Ed continued his silence. He was concentrating on the voice in his head.

_They're lying, Edward._

_H-how do you know that?_

_They know that Winry is in Drachma, but they won't be able to find her that easily. They're simply bluffing to keep you under control._

_But…_

_I promise you, she'll be fine._

Envy continued, unaware of what was going on in Ed's mind. "It's simple, really. All you need to do is release Sloth for us."

"No."

---------------

Roy looked at Ed in shock. He hadn't expected Ed to outright refuse the homunculi. He tried to get a closer look at the alchemist's face, but Envy stepped in the way.

"No?" Envy asked, his voice becoming rather low. "Why not?"

Ed was silent, but Roy could tell he was resisting the urge to attack Envy. After a while, Envy sighed and dealt Ed a blow to the chest, sending him flying. Roy tried to help him, but King Bradley held out a sword in warning. Roy stayed where he was.

Ed spat out some blood as he tried in vain to push himself up. Envy walked up to him and crouched down, grabbing Ed by his braid and pulling his head up. "Oh? Was I wrong? You don't care about her enough to do what we ask?"

Ed pulled himself away and weakly got to his feet. "I'm not falling for that," he growled, his eyes glowing with hate. Roy bit his lip to keep from smiling. He had realized that the homunculi's threat was an empty one, but he wasn't sure if Ed knew that himself. He just hoped that Envy wouldn't continue what he had been doing to Ed in the wilderness. Roy didn't think that he would be able to do anything without being beaten himself.

Envy grabbed Ed by the shirt and pulled him close. "Then do you want me to continue what I was doing before?"

Ed tried to punch Envy in the face, but Envy grabbed the fist and twisted Ed's arm before punching Ed in the chest again. Ed fell back with a small cry of pain, clutching his chest. Once again, Roy tried to help, but he was forced to stop when Wrath held a sword to his throat and growled, "Do not interfere."

Envy looked back at Roy when Wrath spoke and grinned. "Let's go with the other plan, shall we?" he asked in a playful tone.

"It seems we don't have a choice," Wrath replied. Envy pulled Ed to his feet again and held him by the shoulders, forcing him to look at the Colonel.

"You see that man?" Envy said, the grin on his face widening. "Get a good look at him, because soon you won't be able to." And with that, Envy roughly brought a hand down on Ed's neck, causing Ed to lose consciousness, and carried the alchemist away.

Roy just about lost it at this point, but once again, he found himself face-to-face with Wrath. He glared at the homunculus, who gestured for Roy to sit back down. Roy did.

"What happens to him is none of your concern. You should be more concerned about yourself."

_This seems familiar…_ Roy thought. "And why is that?"

"We are beginning to doubt that you can be useful to us."

Roy raised an eyebrow and tried to ask what this meant, but Wrath ignored him. After a while, Roy gave up and began to stare down the dark tunnel in the direction that Envy had gone.

--------------

Ed awoke in utter darkness. He blinked several times, hoping that it would help him concentrate, but to no avail. He groaned as he felt the pain course through his body.

After a while, he became aware of voices, and he tried to see where they were coming from. It was still too dark to see, however, so all he knew was that they were coming from somewhere to his left. He listened intently, trying to hear what they were saying. To his dismay, both of the voices were very familiar.

"Let me go!" a female voice cried out. "You jerk, I'll-"

"You'll what?" Envy replied lazily. "You can't beat me."

Ed panicked. The female voice sounded eerily like…

"Ed! Help me!"

Ed tried to get to his feet, but the effort caused a burning pain to shoot through his chest. He fell back to the ground. "Damn it, Envy, let go of her!" He shouted instead, grimacing as he spoke.

Ed heard a soft thud, followed by footsteps. He tried once again to get to his feet, but before he even got to a sitting position, he felt a weight on his chest.

"Let who go? I thought you didn't think we had her, pipsqueak," Envy purred into Ed's ear. Ed tried to punch Envy in the face, but he couldn't see where Envy was exactly, and managed to get his fist caught in Envy's hair. Envy easily pulled it out and twisted it slightly. "So, what'll it be? Are you going to behave now?"

Ed grimaced. "What… happens to her if I don't?"

Envy twisted slightly harder. "She pays the price."

Ed was quiet. _What should I do? He… he has Winry…_

_No, Edward, it's a trick. Don't fall for it._

_But…_

_Stop. Please, you're making a mistake._

_I can't risk it, though. If they have her…_

_ED! Listen to me!_

_No! You don't know… just… please, leave me alone…_

_Edward…_

Ed ignored his new companion as he spoke. "I… fine. I'll… do whatever… you ask…"

"Good. You're beginning to learn your place again, aren't you, little brother?"

Ed cringed. "I hate you."

Envy grabbed Ed's arms and pulled him to his feet. "I'll just ignore that little comment for now." Envy turned Ed around and pushed against his back. "Start walking. I'll be there in a moment."

After a while, Ed and Envy arrived back at where Roy and Wrath were sitting. Ed kept his eyes down, not wanting to look Roy in the face. He felt as if he were betraying the Flame Alchemist, and there wasn't anything he could do about it. He waited silently as the homunculi walked a distance away spoke to each other, trying to hear what they were saying. Their voices were low, but Ed could hear some of what they said.

"Did it work?"

"It did. He's convinced that working for us will keep her safe."

"That's good. Let's send him after Sloth now."

"No, no. I have something else in mind at the moment."

"Oh?"

Even Roy heard the laugh that followed. "A punishment."

After that, Ed couldn't hear anything else. He looked nervously at Roy, who hadn't been able to hear the conversation. Roy looked back at him and tried to give a reassuring smile, just before the homunculi returned. Wrath stood a distance away as Envy walked up to Ed.

"It's time for you to prove yourself. If you do as I say, your little friend will be just fine."

Ed was quiet. He could tell everyone was watching him, and after a while, Envy leaned close to Ed's ear and whispered, "The Flame Alchemist is now a liability to our goals. Your first task… destroy him. Now."

-----------

I so evil. :D


	19. Destruction

Ed tensed. "W-what?"

"You heard me," Envy said in a louder voice. "He's getting in the way. It's your job to take him out."

"But…"

"Do it. You know what will happen if you don't."

Ed cringed as he looked at the man who had helped him so much. He didn't move for several minutes, and after a bit, he felt a hand on his neck.

"Did you hear me? I said kill him," Envy hissed. "It's going to happen either way. You might as well make it less painful for him."

Roy could tell Ed was struggling, but he didn't know what to do. If he fought, he'd run the risk of hurting Ed, and with the confined space they were in, he couldn't exactly use his flame alchemy. His mouth wouldn't move. All he could do at the moment was watch in shock as Ed took a step forward.

"That's it, pipsqueak," Envy said with a grin. "Just keep going, and take him out."

Ed stopped. "I can't."

"You don't have a choice. Go on, do it."

Ed didn't move. Envy grabbed him by the shoulders and pushed him forward. "You remember our little conversation, don't you? Kill him now, or I'll do it for you, and get rid of your little frie-"

Before Envy could finish his sentence, Ed sent him flying with a kick to the face. It didn't take long for Envy to recover and immobilize the alchemist, but somehow, Ed managed to break free, and ran for Roy, who happened to be the target of a vicious attack from Wrath. Roy stared in horror as Ed fell to the ground, temporarily forgetting that Ed could regenerate, or at least he could a couple of times.

The homunculi stared at the body on the ground, watching in confusion as the regeneration process happened to someone they didn't expect. Once it was almost finished, Ed slowly got to his feet. He stood in front of Roy, his eyes glowing with anger. "Nice try, but you aren't going to kill him or Winry." Ed's eyes flashed dangerously. "This ends here." Ed lowered his voice so that only Roy could hear him, and muttered, "It's going to be very bright in here in a couple of minutes."

It was more like a couple of seconds after Ed spoke that a dozen torches lit up, each held by a soldier in a line that was headed by none other than Major General Olivier Milla Armstrong. Envy glared at Ed. "You…"

"You should have expected this," Ed interrupted. With that, the Major General gave a signal, and the final battle seemed to be beginning.

---------------

Al stared nervously at the front gates of Central headquarters. After hearing about some of the events up north, Havoc had decided to return to Central, and had been talking with some of his military buddies he had made since moving into Central. After he had shared the truth about the military with a couple of them, along with as much proof as he could think of, they immediately joined his side. From what they had gathered through spying, the higher-ups were planning something in the north. Al realized what this meant, but he didn't know how to stop it.

Havoc knew, however. He and Major Armstrong had met briefly the other day, and they came up with some sort of plan. All Al knew about it was what he was supposed to do, but he didn't really want to do it. The only thing that had kept him from refusing was the fact that Scar had been standing right behind him at the time, his right hand on Al's shoulder and a worrisome look on his face.

"Why haven't you gone yet?" Mei Chan asked, startling Al out of his thoughts. He practically jumped when he heard the little girl's voice.

"Ah… well, um… I'm…"

"Are you really that nervous? It's not that hard to do, especially since you've improved so much with your rentanjutsu. Just relax."

Al took a deep breath and tried to focus. "You're right. It's just that… what if this isn't the best…"

"Don't worry about that. You'll be just fine."

Al took another deep breath. "Okay, here goes…" With that, he did what he had seen Mei Chan do so many times, and within minutes, half the military was out by the front gates, trying to figure out what had happened to the gates.

Al and Mei didn't get to see what damage had been done, because they were currently making their way to the other side of the headquarters to meet up with the others. Once they found each other, Armstrong used alchemy to make a door in the wall. They snuck in, unseen by anyone due to the ruckus at the front gate.

"So, what do we do now?" Al asked, looking around at the places he'd visited several times before.

"Well, first thing's first," Havoc replied. "We have to find the higher-ups and see what they're up to today."

"Wait, why?"

Havoc paused. "Um, I don't know. I didn't come up with this part of the plan."

"Then who did?"

"Scar."

Al blinked. "Oh. But what's he…" Al trailed off as he realized what Scar probably had in mind. "I'm not doing this."

They heard footsteps, and Havoc grabbed Al by the arm and pulled him along. "Too late now! Come on, this'll be easy."

Al struggled to get out of Havoc's grip for a minute before giving up and going along with the flow. After a while, they came to a hallway where the higher-ups seemed to be congregating. Al stared quietly down the hallway as the older men filed into a large room.

"Are they having a meeting?" Al muttered.

"Looks like it," Havoc replied. "Anyway, I think that's all we need to know for now. Let's head back."

Al nodded, and they began their way back through headquarters, their efforts constantly delayed by troops running through the hallways. Al had to use alchemy a few times to hide Havoc and himself.

Finally, they made it outside, and Al kept watch as Havoc sprinted across the open area that separated them from the wall. He was about to make his way over when he heard a chilling voice from behind him.

"Where do you think you're going?"

Al whirled around, and saw Selim standing right behind him. "Wha…"

"You are trying to accomplish something you will never be able to accomplish. If you surrender now, I might let your friends live."

"What are you talking about?" Al asked. "You're-"

"I am the first homunculus. _You_ are the second-born son of one who is almost the equivalent of Father. However, you are getting in our way. I would kill you now if you weren't a sacrifice."

Al took a step back. "You…"

"You heard me. This is simply a disguise, to fool people like you who put more effort than necessary into a vain effort to disrupt our plans. Your brother was smart to hide the truth from me. However," Selim took a step forward. "You shouldn't have run away."

"Who are you?" Al asked, panic evident in his voice.

"I am Pride." With that, Al saw the black shadow behind the boy, and moved into a defensive stance. Pride smiled, and Al decided that a better idea would be to run.

He didn't make it very far. After about five seconds of sprinting, Al felt something overtake him, and he collapsed on the ground. He struggled to get up, but something was holding him down. Al looked back and saw that his body had been enveloped in darkness. Al continued to struggle, but all he managed was to wear himself out. He looked up at the child-like homunculus in fear before he heard footsteps. Immediately, the shadows disappeared, and Pride seemed to be Selim once more as a group of soldiers came up to them.

"Are you all right, Master Selim?" One of the soldiers asked as the rest surrounded Al.

"Yes, I'm fine. I just happened to come outside a moment ago."

"Did this boy attack you?"

"No, not at all."

"What a relief." Al was still staring numbly at Pride/Selim as the soldiers pulled him roughly to his feet. "Please go back inside, Master Selim," the soldier continued as he pulled out a gun.

A minute later, Al was pressed against the wall with a gun pointed at his face. The soldier was about to pull the trigger when a nearby voice rang out.

"What are you doing?"

The soldier lowered the gun and looked at the approaching soldier. "We have orders to capture and kill the intruders, sir."

"Not this one. I just got orders from the higher-ups. Disarm him and bring him up to the meeting room upstairs. They wish to deal with him personally."

The soldier saluted. "Yes, sir."

---------------

Al was roughly dragged up into the meeting room and forced to sit down on a chair facing the higher-ups, to which he was tightly restrained. As the regular soldiers left the room, Al could feel all eyes on him. After a minute, General Hakuro stood and walked up to him.

"So, you're continuing to resist. What are you planning this time?"

Al was silent, his eyes narrowed as he glared at the General. After a while, Hakuro slapped him in the face. "Answer the question!"

"I don't know."

"So, you stage an attack on military headquarters and attempt to sneak in, but you don't know why?" Hakuro laughed. "Let's try the truth, Alphonse Elric. You are in a very bad position. Don't force us to do the same to you as what was done to your brother."

"What did you do to him?" Al asked, his voice wavering from both apprehension and anger.

"_We_ did nothing to him. It was someone else who found him and _beat_ him into submission. And, at the moment…" Hakuro grinned. "There are plenty of people here who are capable and willing to do the same to you."

Al's eyes narrowed, but he said nothing. Then there was a crash out in the hallway, which distracted everyone in the room. As several people went to see what was going on, Al found himself being lifted from the chair and carried across the room. Someone opened a small, hidden door, and Al got thrown into a small closet-type space. Before the door closed again, Al heard a voice in his ear. "Leave."

He tried to free himself, and managed to get his hands free. He transmuted the rest of his restraints, using the light to see where he was. The so-called closet seemed to continue down, and Al realized that it was more of a tunnel than anything. He checked to see if anyone would come after him before making his way down the tunnel.

He had assumed that it would lead to some sort of room, but strangely enough, it continued, and eventually turned into a staircase. Al transmuted a small torch out of the wooden railing, and somehow managed to light it before continuing on his way.

After a few minutes, Al came to a realization. He wasn't going to get out of military headquarters. He was going straight down to Father's lair. He stopped and looked back, debating whether or not going back was a better option. If he continued, he'd most likely be found by the homunculi, and he'd be in a worse situation than before. Then again, if he went back, he'd end up being back under military control, which would be just as bad, since he would end up in the same place in the end.

Al decided to continue going down. He would fight until he couldn't fight any more. When he finally arrived, Al went straight to his father's room, hoping that nobody was in that general area, other than his father. Luckily, he was right, and Al successfully snuck into Hohenheim's room. Hohenheim looked up at his son with surprise.

"What are you doing here?" Hoho asked.

Al paused. "I… kinda got into trouble…"

"What happened?"

"Well, we were doing something, and then I ran into Pride…"

"Pride? He found you?"

Al nodded. "Yeah, and he kept me from getting away until some soldiers came up. Then they brought me to the higher-ups and started interrogating me until something happened in the hallway and someone shoved me into this tunnel room thingy. That's how I got down here."

Hoho nodded. "You shouldn't stay too long. Someone's bound to find you down here."

"I know, but this is somewhat safer than staying on the surface. Besides, I think we may end up needing your help."

"I can get out of here on my own if need be, but if they find you… Considering everything you've done against them lately, you'll be very lucky if they don't hurt you."

Al nodded. "I know. They've already done that to Ed."

Hoho stiffened. "Those bastards… Get out of here. Now."

"But-"

"If you get caught, then you won't be able to do _anything_. You have to stay out of their grasp."

Al nodded. "I get it. I'll go now."

But as Al turned to leave, he found that he couldn't move his feet. He looked back, and saw a shadow on the ground, with three eyes staring at him. Al soon found himself completely enveloped in shadow, and after a moment, the door opened, and Pride came in, followed by Father.

"You fool," Father said. "Did you think that we didn't expect you to come here?"

Al felt a sharp pain shoot through his spine as Pride sent him flying into the wall. Much to his dismay, he soon felt a shadow cover his mouth and nose, making it impossible for him to breathe. Al tried to break free, but the lack of air soon became too much for him, and he soon ceased to move. After another few seconds, Pride let go, but Al was barely conscious. All he could do was try to regain his breath while he was carried out of the room.

----------------

Ed stumbled back, trying to regain his breath. Somehow, he and Roy had been forced further down the tunnel, so they were too far from the others to get help as they fought against Envy. Roy wasn't helping much, either. All he could do was set off a few very small explosions around Envy whenever Ed needed a break.

Ed was beginning to lose it. Envy seemed to be much more willing to go for fatal wounds now that Ed had shown that he could regenerate, but Ed had used up his second "life" earlier in the fight, and according to what his new companion had previously told him, one more fatal wound would kill him. After a while, his legs gave out, and he didn't have enough time to transmute something before Envy kicked him as hard as he could, which caused Ed to spit up more blood. Before Roy had a chance to use his flame alchemy on Envy, the homunculus had a grip on Ed's throat and pushed him against the wall.

"Don't move, Flame Alchemist," Envy growled. "Or your little friend will have to take your punishment as well as his own."

Roy stood still and cursed to himself. Envy pushed harder against Ed's throat until the alchemist's eyes closed and his body went limp. Envy let go of him and watched as Ed dropped to the floor.

"I should probably kill him again, just to watch his pain," Envy said, looking down at Ed with disdain.

"You'd kill him for real," Roy replied before he could help himself.

"Hmm? Ah, yes, of course, his stone is much smaller. Now then," Envy continued as he turned to Mustang. "It's your turn, Mustang," Envy growled as he approached Roy. "And I doubt you'll do so well against me. In fact…" Envy grinned. "You'll die just like your friend in Central did."

Roy let out a cry of rage and ran to attack Envy, forgetting that he wasn't very good at hand-to-hand combat. It only took a few minutes for Envy to wear Roy out enough so that the homunculus could easily deal the finishing blow.

Envy created a blade out of his arm, and as Roy began retreating, Envy ran toward him, blade extend for the final motion that would kill the Flame Alchemist once and for all.

But the hit never came. Instead, Envy watched in shock as the blade easily sliced through another body, going straight through a black circle on the pale-ish skin. Envy immediately pulled the blade out and checked Ed's vital signs. There was still some sort of pulse, but it was impossible to undo the damage. Ed was seconds away from death.

-------------

I still so evil. :D

And I should have updated a long time ago, but I've been uber lazy…


	20. Death

Gah, it's almost been a month and I have no excuse for not updating. I mean… THERE WAS THIS HUGE FLOOD, GUYZ, AND THEN A GIANT FISH STARTED EATING MY BRAINS, AND ON TOP OF THAT, I GRADUATED AND HAD REHEARSALS FOR THREE DIFFERENT TEN-MINUTE PLAYS AND I HAD TO DIRECT MINE AND I TOTALLY SCREWED UP THE SECOND NIGHT AND CRACKED UP IN THE MIDDLE OF ONE OF MY LINES AND IT TOTALLY SUCKED BUT THE THIRD AND FINAL NIGHT WAS MUCH BETTER AND if you actually believed the flood part then I laugh at you. I live in the middle of Colorado, and the only flood would come from tons of snow melting all at once, and while we _have_ had snow here last week, it wasn't enough to flood the place should there be an unnatural heat wave…

And yes, that was definitely the most pointless author's note I've ever written, but I don't care. XD

----------------

Roy watched in shock as Ed's limp body fell to the ground. He stared for a second as Envy stood up, scratching his head.

"Ah, jeez. This is going to be hard to explain…"

Roy lost it. He snapped his fingers and sent a fireball in Envy's direction, sending the homunculus flying. Envy regenerated and ran away from Roy, not in the mood to fight someone who was in such a bad rage. They made their way out of the tunnel and outside, where Envy managed to shake Roy for a while.

Falman saw Roy chasing after Envy in the tunnel and was about to follow when he realized something. Only Roy was going after Envy. Falman bit his lip and ran the other way, in the direction that the two had come from.

"Edward!" he shouted, hoping for an answer. He held his lamp in front of him, hoping to see something that would give away Ed's presence. After a few seconds, he saw something rather disturbing. He put the lamp down and ran to the figure on the ground, watching in shock as the body regenerated. After a minute, Ed pushed himself to his knees with a groan. He looked up at Falman in surprise.

"What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be helping the others?"

"Wait… you… What's with the…"

Ed looked down at himself and realized that his 'tattoo' was showing through the tattered remains of his shirt. "Oh, um… The Colonel didn't tell you about this?"

Falman shook his head. "No. You're a homunculus?"

Ed cringed. "No," he replied as he stood up. "I'm just… I don't really know, actually. Where'd everyone go?"

Falman stared blankly for another minute before shaking his head. "Ah, yes, the Colonel ran out a few minutes ago. He was chasing after Envy."

Ed nodded. "Okay. Thanks."

Falman watched blankly as Ed ran off before remembering what he was supposed to be doing, and quickly ran back to accomplish his task.

---------------

After a while, Ed found his way outside, looking for Roy and Envy. Part of him was afraid that Roy thought he was dead, because knowing Roy, he probably would have gone insane with rage. Ed sighed as he continued running, grateful that he had been completely healed by this point in time.

_Too bad I lost those extra abilities,_ Ed thought as he ran. _Although I still seem to be in better shape than I ever was…_

_I'm still here, Edward._

Ed started and nearly fell over. "What the-"

_But I'm barely here. I'll be here until you come close to death again, so I can help until that point._

Ed continued running. Somehow, he could sense Envy, but the homunculus was far away._ I'm glad you told me about the third chance before Envy tried to kill Mustang. Will I stop being able to sense Envy when you're gone?_

_I don't know, but most likely. You'll still have that mark, though._

Ed frowned. _Great…_ He stopped as he saw some movement in the distance. After a moment of observing, Ed unwittingly let out a cry of joy and ran forward, only to stop in surprise as Roy turned on him and snapped his fingers. Ed threw himself down in the snow.

"Hey! What are you doing?" Ed shouted as he brushed the snow from his clothes.

"Do you really think I'm that stupid, Envy?" Roy shouted back, his fingers in a snapping position. "You kill someone and then take their form with the hopes that I'll fall for it?"

"What are you-" Ed ducked as another explosion went off. "Hey! That's not-"

"I'll kill you!" Roy screamed. Ed turned and ran.

_Shit, this isn't what I had in mind…_

The voice was quiet for a while. _At least I can help if you get a fatal wound._

_But how will that convince him that I'm really me?_ Ed thought desperately. _He's gone crazy!_

_No, he just doesn't know that I'm still inside you. You just need to prove yourself._

Ed stopped running and turned to look at Roy, who was still behind him, but fairly far away due to Ed's greater speed. _Prove myself…_

"Hey! Ask me something!" Ed shouted. "I know it looks like I died, but-"

"I heard about Hughes, you bastard! I'm not going to fall for that!" Before Ed could reply, Roy snapped his fingers and caught Ed off guard. Ed shouted in pain as the flames licked his skin, but the blast wasn't as powerful as he'd thought it would be. Ed fell back in the semi-melted snow, whimpering at the cold and the pain.

Soon, he saw a shadow pass over him, and Ed looked up to see Roy standing in front of him. Roy looked very pissed, but after a minute of holding his hand out in a snapping position, he seemed to realize something. "Why don't you regenerate?" he asked, confusion evident in his voice. "I thought-"

"That's only something the homunculi can do freely, you bastard!" Ed managed to shout before squeezing his eyes shut. "Don't you know anything?" he whimpered, tears running down his face.

"Oh, god…" Ed felt a hand on his forehead. "You're alive…"

Ed opened his eyes and managed a very weak smile. "Yeah. You're still stuck with me."

Roy laughed with relief before looking down at Ed's side. "Ah, I… shit, I'm sorry…"

With some effort, Ed moved his arm out of the way as Roy began some very basic burn treatment. "Yeah, you should be sorry. How am I supposed to help you get Envy now?"

Roy ignored Ed and began pulling off Ed's ruined shirt. "Can you make a bandage?"

Ed nodded and transmuted the fabric for Roy. "Is it bad?" Ed asked.

"Obviously it isn't too bad if you've got this much energy. So what happened down there?"

"In the tunnel?"

"Yeah. Obviously you were lying when you said two chances. Unless I'm bad at math, that was your third death."

Ed nodded. "I didn't lie. I was just telling you what I knew at the time. Didn't you tell me once that it's best to prepare for a worst-case scenario?"

"Yeah, but what if you hadn't had that?"

"Then I might not have gone so far with Envy. I would have done something else, but I needed him to think I was dead to catch him off guard. And now he thinks he just has you to deal with, right?"

"But then I did this to you… You're an idiot."

"Maybe so, but we have other problems to deal with now, don't we?" Ed paused. "Envy's getting close. You should get ready to fight."

Roy nodded. "Right. Can you help?"

Ed nodded. "I'll let you do the hard part."

Roy rolled his eyes. "Gee, how surprising."

-------------

As Envy approached, Ed stood in front of Roy, his eyes narrowed. Envy paused when he saw Ed, and immediately moved into a defensive position. "You. How did you not die from that?"

Ed smirked. "Isn't it obvious?"

"I suppose it is," Envy replied, his eyes narrowing. "But now it's time for you to give up."

"You can't scare me. I heard what you said in the tunnel."

Envy raised an eyebrow. "Eh?"

"You used your shape-shifting ability to make me think you had Winry. I should have guessed you'd do something like that."

Envy grinned. "You humans are all alike. Part of me had hoped that you would have been different, _brother_."

Ed punched Envy in the face and ran, giving Roy a chance to prepare for the final attack. Envy chased after him for a short time, but Ed proved to be too fast, and Roy began his attack seconds later.

Ed watched from a distance as the explosions went off. Part of him was relieved that Envy would never be able to hurt anyone again, but some very small part of him wondered if this was really the right thing to do. He sighed and continued to watch, hoping that once the conflict was over, Roy would manage to get rid of the need for this sort of thing.

He continued to watch as Roy forced Envy back into a fairly large crevasse in the ground and snapped his fingers one last time. Then, Roy stopped. Ed watched for a moment longer before getting to his feet and going over.

"Why did you stop? Is he gone?"

Roy shrugged and pointed. The crevasse was filled with water, most likely due to the snow that had been melted by Roy's fire. "He's too heavy to swim to the top. Unless he changes form, he'll drown in there."

Ed decided not to look. "It's too small of a space for him to change into anything big enough."

"Exactly. He's trapped."

Ed's legs were shaking, and he decided to sit down before he fell down and hurt himself even more. "It's over…"

Roy looked back into the crevasse. "Not quite yet."

"What?" Ed tried to get to his feet, but he had sat down right before his legs had completely quit working.

Roy smiled. "Don't worry, Envy's dead. I just saw him disappear forever." Then he looked at Ed with a serious face. "But this fight isn't over. We still have Central to deal with."

Ed nodded. "We do…" And with that, Ed passed out.

-------------

"Ugh, Second Lieutenant Falman, you just _had_ to go and accidentally free Sloth, didn't you?" the medical lady said as she began dressing the man's wounds.

"You don't have to remind me," Falman muttered. "I didn't mean to."

"No, but now I have four times as many people to treat. I'm just glad Major General Armstrong's all right. She would have been one tough patient."

"I still can't believe she managed to take out the Fuhrer with barely any help from us. That's true strength right there."

"Well," medical lady said. "The law up here _is_ survival of the fittest."

Falman stared off into the distance for a while. Medical lady finished her job and stepped back. "You're worried about those two, aren't you?"

Falman nodded. "They'll probably be fine, but Edward-" Falman cut himself off as the door opened. He stood up and pulled on his uniform before saluting medical lady. "I'll leave you to your work."

A while after Falman left the room, there was quite a commotion in the hall. Medical lady looked out the doorway and saw two people walking toward her. Or rather, one was carrying the other.

Buccaneer came into the medical room and gently placed the unconscious alchemist on a bed. "We found him just outside with that idiot Flame Alchemist. Apparently Mustang thought that this one was Envy in disguise and tried to grill him."

"Oh, great, more work for me," medical lady groaned as she pulled off the makeshift bandages on Ed's chest. "What is with this kid? It's like he goes out of his way to get himself hurt." She paused when she saw the extent of Ed's latest injury. "Ouch. Mustang really got him good. What's he doing now?"

"Mustang? I don't know. He's probably moping around because of what he did."

"Most likely." Medical lady began applying something to the burns, which was soon accompanied to a sharp gasp from Ed, who had finally regained consciousness. Ed didn't move, though, which made medical lady's job easier.

"You got lucky, shrimp," Buccaneer said from nearby. "Not many people have survived an attack from the Flame Alchemist."

Ed glared at Buccaneer, but didn't say anything. The giant man got up and left the room, only to return a few minutes later. "We just got an emergency call from Central. It seems Scar took out almost all of the higher-ups before being killed himself."

Ed tried to pick up his head. "What?"

"You heard me, shrimp. It seems there are going to be a lot of changes in the military from here on out. The Major General has been summoned to Central, along with Grumman from East City. The death of the Fuhrer has been written off as an accidental death. His wife and son aren't doing well with the news."

"Wait, what about-"

"Shut up and wait for someone else to tell you. I have things to do."

--------------

Roy sat on the stairs as he stared quietly over the landscape. He could see the area where he had mistakenly fought against Ed, and for some reason, he couldn't look away, although that might have been because the place where he killed Envy was very close by.

He heard footsteps behind him, but he didn't move. He had a lot to think about.

"We're leaving for Central. You and Fullmetal are going to have a lot to deal with when you get back," Olivier said.

"Yep."

"I'm putting you in charge of him. With the higher-ups out of the picture, there is barely any evidence against you two, but I expect you to follow orders if you want to be cleared."

"Of course."

Olivier nudged Roy in the back with her foot. "You gave the kid a few burns. You didn't kill him, and neither did Envy. You should be grateful you were able to make that mistake in the first place."

"I'm sure."

"Look, if you're so worried about this, then ask him yourself. He's on his way out with Hawkeye right now."

Roy continued to stare straight ahead as Olivier went past him to the waiting vehicles. He stood up when he heard footsteps behind him, and forced a smile when he saw Ed and Riza. Ed was wearing a loose shirt, and Roy could see bandages on his chest and arms, as well as his neck.

"H-how are you doing, Fullmetal?" Roy asked, trying to hide his guilt.

"Fine." Ed made to cross his arms, but he winced halfway through and dropped his hands. "What about you?"

"Why would that matter?" Roy asked with a raised eyebrow. "You're the one who's injured…"

"And I just said I'm doing fine," Ed shot back.

"Well, I'm fine, too. Happy?"

Ed nodded. Riza gave Roy a questioning look as she helped Ed get down the stairs and to the second car. Roy knew exactly what that look meant, and after they got Ed into the car, he turned to her.

"Edward told me what happened, sir. You shouldn't be too hard on yourself. Edward's young, he'll heal, and besides, he said that even he would have made the same mistake."

"Even so…" Roy shook his head. "I was trying to do whatever I could for him, and instead I tried to kill him. A bigger explosion and I would have… It's like Ishbal…"

"Sir…"

Roy shrugged it off and got into the car, giving Ed as much space as possible, which was fairly difficult in the small vehicle. After a moment, Riza and Miles got in the front seat, and they drove off.

-----dashdashdash---

Once they boarded the train, Ed made himself as comfortable as he could in the private car devoted to their small party. Someone had prepared someplace for him to sleep in one corner of the place, with a low false wall separating him from the others, and blocking out some of the light.

Ed lay on his back as the train began moving, staring at the ceiling and thinking about what he had to do once they returned. After a few minutes, he realized something, and decided to ask the next person who talked to him a question. The next person happened to be Riza. She sat next to him and handed him a glass of water.

"You really should try to sleep. It's going to be a long ride."

Ed nodded as he sat up and sipped the water, using his right arm, which was in better shape than the rest of him, and being careful not to touch his chest. "I know." Ed was quiet for a while. "Do you know what day it is?"

Riza blinked at the strange question before giving a smile of understanding. "You're seventeen today, right?"

"Yeah."

Riza smiled sadly. "I'd say happy birthday, but it doesn't seem like today's going to be very happy."

"It's just an injury. I'm fine."

Riza sighed and looked across the car to where Roy was sitting. "Somehow, I doubt he'll believe that."

Once again, Ed tried folding his arms, but he had the same problem, and left them at his sides. He looked at Roy for a moment, his expression emotionless.

"No, I doubt he'd believe even me." Riza looked at him with confusion for a minute before Ed continued. "Back then, when it all happened, I was really afraid. I really thought he was going to kill me, and…" Ed paused. "Before he figured it out, it seemed like he was… enjoying that fear. And then afterwards, he didn't really say anything about it when it happened, but that was probably because we had other things to deal with…"

"He looked back on that fear and was horrified at what he had done to you," Riza finished.

"But I can forgive him for a mistake. I would have done the same thing."

"Then you have to tell him that. Otherwise he'll continue to hate himself for what happened."

Ed looked at Roy again. "I don't think I'm ready to talk to him yet… Could you maybe send him over later?"

Riza smiled. "I can. Get some rest, we have a long way to go."

--------------

The train came near to Central, and Riza decided it was time for Ed and Roy to have a nice little chat. She asked Roy to wake Ed up, and quietly watched as Roy walked over to the bed.

"You going to watch the show?" Olivier asked. "Should be interesting."

Riza was quiet as Roy woke Ed up and began walking away from the bed – only to have Ed grab the back of his uniform. Riza couldn't help smiling as Roy turned around and eventually sat down at the foot of Ed's bed.

Roy, on the other hand, was not so happy about the situation. "What is it, Fullmetal?" he asked tentatively, hoping to get away from Ed as quickly as he could.

"You're acting stupid," Ed replied, getting right to the point.

"And what makes you say that?" Roy asked.

"Why are you avoiding me?"

"Because you're injured and I don't want to get in the way of the healing process."

"You've never done that before." Ed narrowed his eyes. "Why is it different this time?"

"Fullmetal, you're-"

"I'm trying to get an answer from you. You've done this to me several times, so why can't I do the same?"

"I outrank you."

"So? I'm leaving the military as soon as we get to Central."

"What? Why?"

Ed looked down at his hands. "Now that the higher-ups are out of the picture, it just… I don't really know, but Father's bound to have someone spying for him in the military, and I don't want them to be able to hear about me as easily. But this isn't what I wanted to talk about."

Roy made to stand up, but Ed glared at him so fiercely that the older man sat down again. "What do you want, then?"

"I want you to say why you've been trying to avoid being around me. I don't care what your excuse is, I have to know."

"Fullmetal-"

"And stop calling me that."

"Stop trying to tell me what to do!" Roy snapped. "First you're afraid of me and now you're trying to boss me around? What am I supposed to do with you?"

"You could try being honest or something," Ed replied. "If you injure someone the least you could do is listen to what they have to say."

Ed instantly regretted saying that, because Roy looked very upset at this, but simply said, "Fine."

Ed looked over at where Riza was sitting, trying to signal that he needed help, but she signaled to him that he was on his own. He sighed and looked at his hands. "I really don't see why you're so upset about this. It's not like I won't heal."

"You'll be scarred for the rest of your life."

"I'm already scarred, in case you didn't notice," Ed muttered darkly.

Roy was quiet. "Sorry."

"Jeez, what's with you?" Ed asked. "It's not like this is the first time you've done something stupid, so why is this time such a big deal?" Ed saw the pain in Roy's eyes and softened his voice a little. "You've hurt me before."

"I've never tried to kill you before."

"You've been pretty willing to kill other people. Why am I so special?" Ed growled.

Roy gave an exasperated sigh. "Full- Edward. Do I really have to spell it out for you?"

"Well, obviously I don't know what the hell you're thinking, so yeah. I'd say you do."

Roy was quiet. Ed waited for him to speak for two or three minutes before smirking. "What, is it really that hard to explain?"

"Okay, fine, you win. I'm unhappy because I thought you were dead and then was too damn stubborn to figure it out when you tried to prove me wrong. I didn't even bother trying to listen to what you had to say, and then…" Roy looked out the nearby window, unsure of how to voice his thoughts. "You looked so horrified. Before I figured it out, I was _enjoying_ it. I felt like I was giving Envy what he really deserved, and I was happy about that."

Ed frowned. "Envy was a bastard. It's his fault for everything that happened. He's the one who made you think I was dead, but it's also my fault for not letting you know sooner that I still had a chance. I'm sorry for that, and I don't want you to hate yourself for a mistake. Besides, we have other things to worry about."

Roy was dead silent for a minute, so Ed decided to continue. "Earlier, in the prison, didn't you say you wouldn't give up on me?"

"I did, but that was different."

"Yeah, it was, because right now you're giving up on yourself. You're making _me_ want to give up on you."

"Then go ahead."

Ed wished he could punch Roy in the face. "What, after your big speech about not giving up? Do you think I could do that? Do you think _any_ of us could do that?"

Roy stared at the ground, but something about his demeanor had changed. "I'm sorry I did this to you."

"And I'm forgiving you. Can you accept that?"

Roy raised an eyebrow at Ed. "You're not going to leave me alone until I do, are you?"

Ed smiled. "Nope."

Roy shook his head, a small smile on his face. "Then I suppose I'll have to accept it." Roy stood up. "But that means you can't rub it in my face."

"Fine."

The train pulled into Central station, and Roy and Riza got ready to play their roles as suspected criminals. Ed played his role as well, except for in a different manner. He was officially the severely injured state alchemist who had been forced to undergo inhumane experiments at the hands of the government, and was soon to be forgiven for deserting. He played his role wonderfully as he was transported to Central's best military hospital.

-------------

And you guys were afraid that I'd kill off Ed and/or Roy. HA!

(I'm too wimpy to actually do that… XD)

oh, and… OMG GUYZ 20 CHAPTERS YAY! This is officially the longest fanfic (and fiction in general) I've ever written, and the only one that might even come close is Alchemists of the Caribbean, which you should totally read because it's got FMA and PotC all in one, and you can't ask for more than that. XD

Oh, and I'm thinking of making another story, which wouldn't really be a story, but just random chapters of mix-ups of all my different stories, like Forsaken Memories!Ed and Al getting stuck in the Alchemists of the Caribbean story or something else, just random stories that I don't really want to make into their own story but that I still wanna write… so yeah, you can look forward to that soon… and by soon I mean eventually… I have to actually do stuff this summer, not to mention I'll be gone for three weeks in July… (but I'll be in Korea during that time AND going to Japan, so it'll be worth it)

So yeah, this is pretty much completely pointless and you get a internet cookie if you read it all. XD


	21. Punishments

As an interesting note, I'd like to say that this chapter is allowed to get drunk.

-----------------

Once at the hospital, Ed was given some painkillers and a very nice private room. He spent the evening staring out the window at the darkening sky. He realized he had a lot to do still, but it felt nice to relax for once, even if it wasn't much of a break. He was very tired, and he didn't even hear the door open, much less the footsteps that stopped at the side of his bed.

After a moment, Ed looked over and saw Selim standing next to him. Ed started a little, but he managed to give a wan smile. "Hey."

Selim sat down on a chair, not looking very happy. "You got to see my father before he died."

Ed's face became serious. "I did."

"What exactly happened to him?"

Ed shook his head. "I don't know. I wasn't there when it happened." After another look at Selim, Ed added, "I'm sorry."

"But… he couldn't have died. Father was so strong…"

Ed wished he could tell Selim the truth, but something stopped him. "He was. I still don't understand how it happened either. But you know…"

Selim looked up. "What?"

"Sometimes there's no good reason for things like this." _He didn't have to be such a bad person,_ Ed thought. "Sometimes the people you love are just taken away for no good reason, and all you're left with is loneliness."

Ed saw a familiar flash of emotion in Selim's eyes, and then the young boy was crying. "But… I don't want him to be gone. I miss him."

"I know how you feel, Selim. Al and I felt the same way when we lost our mother. But you know what?"

"What?"

"You still have your mother, and I know for a fact that she loves you very much. She's probably just as sad as you are. You should do whatever you can to help her, because it's much easier to go through these times when you aren't alone."

Selim looked up at Ed with tears still in his eyes. "You had your brother, right? What about your father?"

Ed smiled sadly. "No, he left and didn't come back for around ten years."

"I wish you could come back and live with us again. I miss having you around."

"I know, but a lot has happened, so I don't know if…"

"I know. Just… come visit sometime, okay?"

Ed smiled. "Sure thing."

"So… how did you get burned so badly?"

Ed hesitated. "Ah… just an accident. Colonel Mustang had mistaken me for someone else, and… Well, you know…"

"Who did he mistake you for?"

Ed hesitated again. "Someone he didn't like very much. I don't really know the specifics."

Selim looked down. "He must not have been very happy with that person, huh?"

"No. He wasn't. So what brings you here?" Ed asked as gently as he could.

"I wanted to see you, because you got to see my father before…"

"Ah. How is your mother doing?"

"She's sad too, but she's okay. Lots of people are being really nice to her."

Ed smiled. "That's good. She's a very nice woman."

Just then, there was a knock on the door, and Selim's mother came in. She smiled at Ed and gestured to Selim. "Come on, Edward needs to rest."

"Okay, mother." Selim got up. "I'll see you later, Edward."

"Yeah, see you," Ed replied as the two left the room. Then he lay down and closed his eyes. Soon he was fast asleep, unaware of the shadows that soon wrapped around his feet.

---------------

The next morning, Ed got a surprise visitor. The fact that he was visiting wasn't too surprising, but the fact that he came through the window was rather shocking, especially considering who it was.

Havoc ignored the look of shock on Ed's face and sat down on the floor next to the bed. "I'd sit in a chair, but it's easier to stay hidden when I'm down here. How are you doing?"

"I guess I'm fine…" Ed replied. "But you're-"

"Yeah, Al got that little Xingese girl to heal my spine."

"That's great! So, where is Al?"

Havoc paused. "Um, well…"

Ed frowned. "Did something happen to him?"

"We… don't really know where he is, actually. I think he was arrested just before Scar went to attack the higher-ups…"

Ed's frown became more pronounced. "Then that probably means he's back under Father's control. That isn't good."

There was a knock on the door, and Havoc ducked under the bed as Olivier came into the room. Ed groaned inwardly, not quite knowing what he was in for. She sat down in a chair next to Ed's bed and scrutinized him carefully. After a moment, she decided to tell Ed why she was there.

"General Hakuro is still alive, and he is recovering in a room just down the hall from here. He wants to see you right away."

Ed frowned. "Why?"

"How should I know? I just came to get you. And to talk to Havoc, who really needs to work on being invisible."

Havoc sheepishly got out of his hiding place and sat in a chair on the other side of Ed's bed. "Whoops."

"Get going, Fullmetal. You wouldn't want to keep the General waiting."

Ed got up and slowly made his way out of the room. Once in the hallway, someone politely led him down the hall to Hakuro's room, ushered him in and closed the door behind him. Ed stood quietly by the door for a minute before the General noticed him.

"Come here."

Ed quietly walked forward and stopped three feet away from Hakuro's bed.

"Sit in that chair."

Ed slowly sat down, trying not to cause the burn wounds to send pain coursing through his body. He sat and waited for Hakuro to speak again. The older man had his arms crossed on his chest, and his eyes were shut.

"That was unexpected, sending Scar to attack us. I have to admit, I'm impressed."

Ed raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Huh?"

"Of course you wouldn't know what happened. You were under Envy's control at the time, correct?"

Ed shook his head, partially because he refused to believe that Envy had had any control over him, and partially because he didn't want to think about what all had happened in the north.

"You're being officially forgiven by the state. You know why?"

Ed shook his head again. He honestly didn't know.

"Because it would be a shame to hold such an impressive creation of Father's in a prison cell. Besides, it wouldn't look good in the eyes of the public."

Ed was quiet. He could feel the general's eyes on him, and he felt a strong sense of unease. _What is this?_ he thought as he waited for Hakuro to speak again.

"You will have someone watching you from now on. Do not attempt to go against us again, or else we will be forced to act. We are holding Mustang responsible for the death of Envy, and Mustang is also the one who attacked the Fuhrer, is he not?"

"I don't know."

Hakuro scoffed at this statement. "You were _there,_ weren't you?"

"Not for when the Fuhrer was attacked."

"Well, it seems I have no choice but to ask him myself." Hakuro looked Ed over once again before saying, "You're dismissed."

Ed stood and made a half-hearted salute before turning to walk to the door. He paused as he was about to open it and turned around. "Where's my brother?"

"He is with Father. Now leave."

Ed left the room and practically slammed the door behind him. When he got to his room, Ed went straight to his bed and lay down. Havoc had left the room, but Olivier was still inside, standing by the window and looking at the city. She spoke to Ed after a few minutes.

"It's been a while since I've been to Central," she said, not turning away from the window. "It's definitely changed a lot."

Ed was silent. His sixth sense told him it was safe in the room, but he didn't know what to do or say. It felt like they had lost.

"What did the General want?"

"They're blaming Mustang for the Fuhrer's death. I was also given a warning," Ed replied in an almost robotic tone. "My brother is under their control as well."

"How annoying."

Ed closed his eyes and attempted once again to fold his arms. He managed it, but after a moment it became painful so he placed them at his sides again. "I don't know what I'm supposed to do now."

"You're supposed to heal. The underground circle is incomplete, and the enemy has been significantly weakened. At the very least, your ridiculous stunts bought us some time, so let the adults handle it from here. You wouldn't be of any use anyway."

Ed frowned and leaned his head back against the pillow. "One of the homunculi is somewhere in this hospital," he muttered, opening his eyes again.

Olivier turned to face him. "Is that so? Where?"

Ed concentrated on the presence he felt before replying. "Speaking with General Hakuro."

"Good to know. I have work to do now. Don't try to do anything right now. There isn't anything you can do."

"I won't."

---------------

Ed was silent as the nurse changed his bandages. His sense told him that this woman was the homunculus known as Pride, but he didn't understand why Pride would be doing something as trivial as taking care of a patient. At least, not until his voice told him that Pride was, for the most part, a shadow that could take over another person's body. Once the nurse had finished, Ed closed his eyes and felt himself begin to fall asleep.

"Don't move around too much," the nurse said. "And as of now, you are forbidden to leave your bed. It's too much strain for your body."

"Whatever." Ed didn't much feel like getting up anyway.

"Tonight and tomorrow are going to be very difficult for you," the nurse concluded as she left the room. Ed didn't think too much about the comment and fell asleep within moments.

He woke up in the middle of the night as someone, or something, lifted him out of his bed. He opened his eyes and saw that his lower body had been engulfed in shadow. This was the other part of Pride's power, he supposed. He was silent as the shadow covered the rest of his body, holding onto him tightly. He looked down and saw an eye staring at his face. Ed struggled to get away, but Pride's grip was much too strong, and Ed was still not doing so well.

"I see you have awoken. You are being 'transferred' to Father's lair. The rest of the military will be told that you were transferred to a classified location due to recent events." The voice was the same as the nurse from before.

"Why?" Ed asked.

"You need to be punished. Father is very unhappy that four of his servants have been destroyed because of you and the Flame Alchemist."

"What about Mustang?"

"He is being dealt with by the military. General Hakuro is in charge of that side of things."

"…What is my punishment?"

"You shall soon find out."

Ed tried to struggle again, but Pride dumped him unceremoniously into the back seat of a waiting vehicle. The driver appeared to be asleep, but he woke up as soon as Pride's form entered his body, leaving the nurse to pass out on the street.

"We are going to take you to Father. If you struggle again…" Ed felt something cutting into his lower leg and saw a shadow covering it. The shadows were all over his body, and one was curling around his neck. Ed could feel it tightening its grip. "I will disable you. Perhaps permanently."

Ed got the point. He moved into a decently comfortable position and waited for the car ride to be over. Eventually, the car stopped, and Ed felt himself lifted into the air once again. As Pride carried him downstairs, Ed became increasingly aware of a new feeling. This one was much more intense than the unease he felt whenever a homunculus was near. He cringed and squeezed his eyes shut. This feeling was terrifying, but he didn't know why it was so different…

_It's a sign that you're in a much worse position than you were in up north. Here, nobody will be able to do much for you. You're pretty much on your own,_ his voice told him as they came close to the underground lair. Ed squirmed in Pride's grip, not in an attempt to escape but in an attempt to ease the pain he was feeling. After a while, they came to a room and Pride dumped Ed on the ground. Ed looked up to see the shadowy homunculus standing in the doorway, still grasping Ed as Father came into the room.

Father walked up to Ed and looked him over once before using alchemy to make a very tight cage. Ed found himself being forced to curl up in a ball, and he immediately hated this new position he was in. Father leaned down so that he could easily look into Ed's eyes. "You will spend the night here. This is the beginning of your punishment. Do not attempt to use alchemy, because Pride will be watching you."

Ed watched as Father left the room, and groaned as the shadow of Pride began to curl around his ankle. The shadow went all the way up to just above his knee, where his automail had been attached.

"So, this is where your false limb used to be. It's impressive that you managed to retrieve it from the doors. Your arm as well, correct?"

Ed vaguely nodded, and Pride let go of Ed's leg before moving up to his shoulder. "And now that you've been burned, your scars will be hidden by other scars. How tragic."

Ed cringed. Pride's shadow was putting pressure on his shoulder, and it was driving him insane. He couldn't take the pain.

"This hurts, doesn't it? If only you were a true homunculus instead of some pathetic fake. Ah well, Father has another weapon now, once we rid you of those foolish feelings for your old companions." Pride's grip tightened. "We won't let you forget about your brother, though. It never hurts to have something like that to keep you under control."

Ed glared at Pride, but grimaced and squeezed his eyes shut as Pride put pressure on his entire body. He bit his lip to keep from screaming in pain, and soon it overwhelmed him, and he drifted out of consciousness.

-------------

Ed woke up and immediately wished he hadn't. His entire body was in pain, and he could barely breathe without causing even more pain. Ed looked around and saw that Pride was sitting on the top of his small little cage, his legs resting just in front of Ed's face.

"Why do you hate humans so much?" Ed asked. "It's not like you could be here without humans in the first place."

"What are you talking about?"

"The philosopher's stone. It's made of human souls."

"You're demanding information you don't deserve to have. Do not test me."

Ed frowned, and was about to respond when he felt something cut through the skin on his leg. He gasped at the pain, and Pride moved to his face, holding it in his hands and staring into his eyes.

"I suppose you're ready to continue for today?" Before Ed could answer, Pride allowed the shadows to cover Ed's neck and began to choke him. "Get rid of the cage." Ed did so, and soon found himself being yanked to his feet. Immediately, Ed was relieved, because his chest no longer burned the way it had when he was in the cage.

However, this relief only lasted for a moment before Pride once again covered his body in shadow. Ed let out a gasp when he was thrown against the wall. He weakly opened his right eye to see Pride inches away from his face.

"I don't see why we have to force you into this. You should have given up when Envy had his hands on you, and yet here you are." There was an eerie smile on the homunculus's face. "You should have let Envy beat you. It's nothing compared to what I'm going to do with you."

Pride let go, and Ed collapsed on the ground. He tried to pick himself up, but to no avail. Pride left him on his stomach and retrieved something from the nearby table. Ed looked up to see a bottle in the homunculus's grip. Ed groaned.

Pride pulled Ed up by his hair and forced him into a sitting position. Then Pride poured a couple of pills from the bottle and stuffed them into Ed's mouth.

"Swallow."

Ed glared at Pride and tried to spit out the drugs, but Pride covered his mouth and roughly shoved him against the wall once again.

"That wasn't a request."

Ed tried to swallow, but his throat refused to work. Pride waited for a moment before punching Ed in the stomach. Ed gasped in surprise, and gagged when he felt something enter his mouth and slide down his throat. When Ed regained his senses, he was lying on the floor, and he realized that Pride had resorted to shoving whatever it was down his throat. Ed began coughing uncontrollably, and when he felt blood dribbling down his chin, Ed wished he would die.

"I see you're already feeling the effects."

Ed was still coughing, but it soon slowed, and eventually it stopped. He took a few deep breaths and looked up. Pride was watching without emotion.

"This is only the beginning. Soon it will be much, much worse." Pride took Ed by the arm and dragged him to a corner of the room. "Lie down."

Ed did as he was told, and carefully lay on his back on the cold floor.

"On your side."

Ed glared at Pride and refused to move, until a shadow wrapped around Ed's throat and squeezed. After a moment, it was too much for Ed, and he winced as he pushed himself up in order to lie on his side.

"Now transmute a cage."

Ed brought his hands together and placed them on the ground, making a decent-sized cage for himself.

"Smaller."

Ed hesitated before doing what he was told, leaving a couple of inches of space so that he had at least a little room to move around.

"I suppose that will do."

Ed tried to shift to a more comfortable position, but he couldn't find one. He sighed and resigned himself to a miserable night. Or day. He wasn't quite sure what time of day it was.

The next time Ed awoke, it was about the same. He was trapped, he was tortured, and the effects of whatever Pride had shoved down his throat were still making him wish he could die without anyone caring.

But they would care. Everyone cared. He had to get through this and defeat the enemy, for their sakes. Ed was resolved to do so. This ridiculous fight would end. He would make sure of it.

-------------

"He's still resisting?" Father asked Pride.

"He is. I've ordered him over and over again, but he doesn't seem to care about the cost to himself."

Ed saw a foot right next to his face, and could tell it belonged to Father. "Don't stop. He will break eventually."

Ed shivered. It was unnaturally cold underground, but he couldn't curl up to keep himself warm. It was too painful. He had attempted to shift so that he was lying on his back at some point in the night, but he didn't have enough room.

Father leaned down to look Ed in the eyes, and Ed returned the look with a steady glare. "You're as stubborn as your father. Of course, it's only been a day since I had you brought down here. You'll soon see it's useless to struggle."

"I need to go to the bathroom," Ed muttered, ignoring Father's statement.

Father looked at Ed in surprise before getting rid of the cage. "Very well. Pride will take you there."

Ed sat up, and felt immense relief at not having to be stuck in such an uncomfortable position. He pushed himself to his feet and followed Pride through the immense underground lair to a small room, in which there was a small room with a toilet and a sink. He quickly relieved himself and spent as much time as he could washing his hands and face. He looked at his face in the mirror and groaned. He looked miserable and exhausted, which Ed realized was really how he felt. He took a step back and sat on the toilet seat for a moment, not wanting to go back to how he had been before.

Once he finally left the little bathroom, Ed saw that he was in another prisoner's room. Al was sleeping in a nearby bed, and Ed felt sick when he saw what had been done to him. Pride watched his reaction quietly and waited for a minute before speaking.

"He's no worse off than you are. He feels about the same amount of pain, and he will heal more quickly than you will. He has already gone through his punishment for resisting us, but yours will be worse. Much worse."

Ed stared at Al for a minute before Pride dragged him out of the room. "You've seen him. It's time to go back now."

When Ed was brought back to his room, Pride had him lie on his stomach on a bed, his arms out in front of him, before securing his hands and feet with leather straps. Ed hated the pain that came from the contact with the material, but it was better than the floor. Especially when Pride covered him with a blanket.

"You won't be released from this except for when you need to relieve yourself. For the next few days, you will be restrained, and we will do what needs to be done to break you. You will be fed once a day, and part of your meal will be milk. If you don't drink it, you won't get to eat any of your other food. You are also expected to be silent. I'm not in the mood to deal with your questions and demands. Now go to sleep."

Ed tried to ignore the pain in his chest and closed his eyes, but he couldn't sleep. It was too painful. Pride seemed to realize this, but he did nothing to get Ed to sleep. He simply watched Ed's vain attempts to sleep from the other side of the room. When Ed did get to sleep, his dreams were nightmarish, and he wished he'd never left the north.

--------------

Ed's first thought when he woke up was that he _really_ wished he could just regenerate and get rid of the burns, but he didn't want to lose the voice that had given him so much advice in the past few weeks. After a while, Ed picked up his head and looked up. Pride was sitting less than two feet away from Ed. The homunculus noticed that he was awake and wrapped a shadow around Ed's chest.

"Are you giving up yet?"

Ed glared at Pride. "No."

"Then we're going to continue your punishment." Ed cringed as the shadow began tightening around his chest. Then, all of a sudden, Pride stopped.

"Envy said he had broken several of your ribs."

"H-he did," Ed replied. He hated how unsteady his voice was.

"How did they heal so quickly?" The shadow began feeling Ed's ribs, putting pressure on Ed's chest and causing Ed to cry out in pain. After a moment, Pride stopped. "Ah, of course, you had a small part of the stone in your body. But I wonder, why are you still covered in burns?"

Ed bit his lip, not wanting to reveal anything to Pride. The homunculus studied Ed's face for a moment before getting up and leaving the room. "Father will be interested to hear about this."

Ed used his time alone to shift his weight and get some of the pressure off of his chest and arms. It worked, but it was a very awkward position to be stuck in. Ed held it until his strength gave out, and went back to dealing with the pain.

_Damn, he's better at torturing people than Envy is,_ Ed thought bleakly as he heard the door open. Ed closed his eyes as Father and Pride walked up to the bed. To Ed's surprise, they undid the restraints on his hands and feet, and Pride forcefully flipped Ed onto his back. Ed kept his eyes closed as Father placed a hand on his forehead. After a moment, the hand moved down to his chest, and Ed felt a pressure on his left side. He bit his lip to keep himself from crying out.

"So, you've been able to regenerate at particular times, but not right now?" Father leaned over Ed. "Why?"

Ed opened his eyes a little bit and looked down at his chest. "I don't know." Part of him honestly didn't. He didn't understand why his voice was able to delay the process of regeneration if the homunculi couldn't do that.

Father gestured for Ed to follow him and began walking toward the door. Ed somehow got to his feet and trudged down the hallway to another room, where Ed was strapped to a bed. Ed watched as Father grabbed something from a nearby table, and his eyes widened when he saw that it was a knife.

"What-" Ed was going to ask what the knife was for, but he quickly found out. Ed let out a cry of pain as the metal dug into his skin. _What the hell are they doing to me?_ Ed thought frantically as Father pulled the blade out and inspected the hole in Ed's shoulder.

"As I thought, he isn't capable of healing non-fatal wounds," Father muttered. "This is a very interesting development. I wonder… Pride, bring his brother in here."

"Of course, Father," Pride replied before leaving the room. Ed felt a hand push his chin up, and Ed found himself staring straight into Father's eyes.

"This is your last chance. If you surrender your will to me now, I will allow your brother to live. If you don't, then I will get rid of him. After all, it may be difficult, but he _can_ be replaced."

Ed squeezed his eyes shut, and two or three tears fell down his face. "Fine. You can have it."

"I expect you to follow through on that statement."

"I will…"

The door opened, and Pride came in, leading Al into the room. Al stared at Ed in shock for a moment, and screamed in horror when Father brought the blade down again, this time straight into Ed's heart.

Al struggled to get out of Pride's grasp, so that he could beat the crap out of Father for killing his brother, but when he saw a light coming from Ed's body, he went limp and watched in awe as his brother regenerated.

"Brother…"

"He is no longer your brother. He is my willing servant, and as such he has no room in his life for family," Father interrupted. "You should be grateful for that. If he had resisted any more, I would have killed you myself, right in front of his eyes."

Al took a step back and hit the wall. He stared in shock and dismay at the scene in front of him. Then he noticed that his brother was moving. Al watched him carefully, looking into his brother's eyes. Once he saw a familiar look in the gold, Al decided to make sure Ed would have a decent chance of doing some damage, or at least escaping. He brought his hands together and placed one on the wall behind him.

Ed used the distraction to use alchemy, and he somehow managed to get Al and himself out of the room. They ran like hell down the hallway, only stopping when they ran into Gluttony.

"Why are you running?" Gluttony asked as he stood in the brothers' way.

"Ah… um…" Al began.

"They're trying to help Father, Gluttony. Get out of their way," came a voice from behind. Ed and Al turned to see Greed standing behind them. Gluttony gave Greed a confused look before stepping aside. Ed and Al were about to go when Greed grabbed Ed by the wrist and looked straight into his eyes. "Get your father freed and stay away from the shadows," he muttered so that only the brothers could hear him. "That's the only way…" Greed trailed off and suddenly slammed Ed against the wall. "Gluttony, grab the other one! Now!"

Ed stared at Greed in surprise. "What the hell are you doing?" he asked as Gluttony quickly tackled Al and held him in an awkward position.

"Saving my ass," Greed replied, just as Pride arrived on the scene.

"Well now, Greed, I was sure that you'd be trying to help these two escape, and yet…"

Greed glared at Pride. "I know who I'm supposed to be loyal to."

"You said they were trying to help Father," Gluttony remarked.

"To catch them off guard," Greed replied. "And obviously, it worked," Greed continued, smirking at Ed. Ed stared back at Greed with a mix of anger and fear on his face.

"I see," Pride said. "Then I'm sure you won't mind handing them over, correct?"

Ed thought he saw a look of hesitation on Greed's face, but it was soon gone. "Take 'em."

Pride looked from Greed to Ed, and then at Al, who was still pinned to the ground. "On second thought, I'll just take this one," Pride said, wrapping the shadows around Ed. "Kill the younger one."

Ed's eyes widened, and he struggled to break free of Pride's grasp. "No! Please, don't hurt him!"

In an instant, Pride was inches away from Ed's face. "It's too late for that. You shouldn't have resisted, and this is your punishment."

"I'm sorry! I swear I'll never do anything like that again! Please!"

"It's too late. You should have behaved, Fullmetal Alchemist. Now you're paying the price."

Ed felt tears slide down his face, and he shook his head. "If you kill him, then you might as well kill me too. Otherwise, I'll just do it myself."

"You think that will change Father's mind? No, you'll have to do better than that."

Ed looked at his younger brother. Al looked just as terrified as he felt, which didn't help him any. "W-what about my father? Both of us are his children."

Pride paused. "Your point being?"

"I know there's something about us that makes us different. Father mentioned it when he first learned about our father. He wasn't supposed to be able to have kids, was he?"

"This is true," Father said as he approached. He nudged Pride aside and pushed Ed's chin up with his hand. "The children of Hohenheim, I never thought I'd see something like this."

Ed was quiet, hoping that Father would let Al live.

"However," Father continued. "The younger is expendable. Dispose of him, you two. Also, make it a punishment for him as well as for his brother. Don't rush it."

Ed felt numb at those words, and it took him a minute to realize that he was being taken away from his brother. He began to struggle and try to get away from Pride's grasp, but Pride soon got a hold of his arms, and Ed found himself being pulled back against his will. A strangled cry of despair made its way out of Ed's mouth, and he found himself calling desperately for his brother.

"Al! Alphonse! ALPHONSE!"

----------------

Nyahahahaha cliffhanger. XD

Anyway, we're so close to the end here that if I don't finish it before my trip then I'll definitely write it down and type it up when I get back, or… I dunno, but I'm hoping to be done with it before I leave for college.

Anyway, that's it for now. :D Hopefully I'll get the chance to update again before I leave on the twelfth.


	22. Two Weeks

Ergh, sorry this chapter's so short compared to the other ones, but it was the best place to end it and such…

----------------

Al was numb as he watched Pride and Father take his brother away. He wanted to break free and help his brother, but thanks to Gluttony, he couldn't even feel his limbs, let alone move them. When Gluttony got off of him and Greed pulled him to his feet, Al's limbs lay limply at his sides. He couldn't move them at all.

"Can I eat him?" Gluttony asked.

"Not yet. We need to make sure his death is slow," Greed replied. "I know, break the bones in his hands first. That'll be a good start."

Gluttony nodded and grabbed Al's right hand.

"Wait."

Gluttony blinked. Greed looked into Al's eyes with a strange look. "We need to wait until he can feel it."

Al stared at Greed, looking him straight in the eye. "Ling…"

"It's Greed."

There was a crash down the hall from where they stood, and Al watched in surprise as Ran Fan came sprinting down the hall, accompanied by none other than Mei Chan and Xiao Mei.

"Who are-" Gluttony was rudely interrupted when he found himself cut in two. Ran Fan had a blade on her automail arm, and it was very, very sharp. Gluttony quickly regenerated, but not before Ran Fan had knocked Greed several yards down the hall. Al had finally regained the feeling in his limbs, so he quickly jumped out of range of Gluttony's grasp and stood next to Mei Chan.

"We need to get rid of him," Mei said, pulling out her weapons.

"Right," Al agreed as he clapped his hands together and placed one on the wall.

Nothing happened.

"You can't fight?" Gluttony asked, a creepy grin spreading across his face. "Then time to eat!"

Al waited until the last second to get out of Gluttony's way, which caused Gluttony to run into the wall behind Al. Al jumped back behind Mei, who quickly used rentanjutsu to bring down a portion of the ceiling. It landed on Gluttony's head, and Al used this opportunity to use rentanjutsu to create two weapons for himself and his female companion.

"Aw, stop doing that," Gluttony whined. "Let me eat you"

"No!" Al and Mei shouted simultaneously as they both went to attack.

--------------

Ed continued to struggle as he was dragged away from his brother, up until he was bound tightly to the bars of a cage. When he realized his hands were still free, Ed immediately tried to use alchemy, but it didn't take long for him to realize that he couldn't.

"I'm not taking any chances," Father said. "If your brother can't use alchemy, then he can be easily overpowered, should he try to escape. As for you, you should have realized that I meant it when I said I would get rid of your brother. You can only blame yourself."

Ed tried to kick out at Father, but he couldn't reach that far. When he realized that his efforts were in vain, Ed hung his head and let tears fall from his eyes. Al was probably in agony right now…

Before he realized what exactly he was doing, Ed grabbed a knife that had fallen from the table and brought it up to his chest. When Pride began to reach out for it, Ed thrust the weapon into his chest, just above his heart.

"What the hell are you doing?" Pride shouted when Ed let go of the knife and let his arms hang by his sides. Father saw what Ed had done and roughly pulled the knife out and tossed it aside before placing a hand on Ed's chest. In an instant, the wound was healed.

"Explain yourself."

"I already said that I have no reason to live without my brother," Ed snarled as he felt the cage behind him with his hand. Once he found a sharp edge, Ed quickly scraped his wrist along it, which resulted in a very deep gash, right on his artery.

Pride noticed the blood first, and wrapped Ed's arm in a shadow before yanking it up. Father healed that wound as well, and Ed stopped for a moment. What else could he do quickly…?

Ed brought his head forward and brought it crashing back into the bars of the cage. The result was desirable, and Ed somehow made himself do it again.

Of course, this didn't work either, and Ed was quickly moved to something that had a lot less sharp edges and hard surfaces. Ed struggled to free himself from the restraints that held him to the bed, but he soon gave up. Finally, he took a deep breath and let it out before he began trying to suffocate himself.

This time, Father simply knocked him out. He glanced at the doorway before looking at Pride.

"Go assist your brothers. It seems we have some unexpected visitors."

---------------

Al and Mei were both exhausted. Gluttony hadn't given up with his goal of trying to eat the two, and while they had done a great deal of damage to him, the homunculus was just too hard to kill off for good.

Al stumbled as he avoided another attack from Gluttony, and the homunculus took advantage of this by tackling Al to the ground.

"Mmm, tasty," Gluttony said as he licked Al's arm, readying himself to take a bite out of it. Al cringed and tried to pull his arm away, but Gluttony's grip was too strong. He was just about to bite when something sent him flying back. Al looked up to see Greed and Ran Fan standing next to him. Ran Fan held out a hand and pulled Al to his feet.

"Go find your family. I'll take care of this one," Ran Fan said before running down the hall to face Gluttony. Al nodded shakily and looked at Greed.

"Ling…?" Al began uncertainly.

"He says he'll let me handle this part," the homunculus said. "I'm still Greed, but Ling says hi."

Al leaned against the wall and took a deep breath before he was ready to move again.

"Go find Hohenheim," Greed said, pointing down another hallway. "He might be the only one who can defeat Father."

Al nodded and ran down the hall, just as Pride rounded the corner and saw Greed and Mei Chan. He continued to run until he came to his father's room, and when he opened the door, Al suddenly realized that this was it.

They had to defeat Father now.

-----------------

Ed woke up with Father standing over him. Ed's first thought was to continue his attempts at suicide, but not even holding his breath would do much damage. Father had done something to him that controlled his breathing.

"You're awake."

Ed glared at Father and closed his eyes, but he opened them again when he felt something brush against his arm. Father was still standing over him, but now he had a syringe of some sort.

"This right here is a sample I took from your father. It should go quite nicely into your bloodstream."

Ed knew he should be worried, but he felt numb. What was the point in struggling anymore? He had figured that if he couldn't resist so easily anymore, then he could simply end his own life, thus making it impossible for him to be used as a weapon. He didn't even have that anymore. All he could do was wait as Father used his body however he pleased. He was an experiment.

As the needle went into his arm, Ed tried once again to get away, to get the syringe away, to let himself die, anything was better than this.

--------------

Hoho was surprised to once again see Al at his door, but he recovered swiftly, and as soon as Al had gotten rid of the restraints, he walked straight for the door.

"This is coming to an end, isn't it?" Hoho asked as they walked through the hallways to where Father had most likely taken Ed.

Al nodded. "My friends are fighting off the homunculi, and they told me to come find you. We need to help brother."

Hoho nodded. "Most likely that bastard's going to try to create another monster out of him. We'd better hurry."

-----------------

Ed was in a daze. Whatever Father had injected into his arm was now spreading through his body, but it was different from what he had imagined. He was still in control. Ed tried to move, but he was still restrained. His body also seemed uncharacteristically weak.

Ed didn't know how much time he spent like that, but when he finally opened his eyes, he was surprise to see his own father standing above him. The restraints had been removed.

"Can you move?"

Ed nodded and pushed himself into a sitting position. The tattoo on his side now contained a red center, but he didn't care about that at the moment. He was alive.

"Where's Father?" Ed asked.

"I guess he ran off to do something else," Hoho replied as he pulled off his outer jacket and placed it around Ed's shoulders.

"Brother?"

Ed blinked and looked behind Hoho to see his brother. "Al… they didn't kill you?"

"Of course not. They almost did, but I had some help."

Ed blinked again. "Wait, you managed to beat them without any alchemy?"

"No. I had rentanjutsu."

Ed stared. "You have a lot of explaining to do, little brother."

Al gave Ed an embarrassed smile. Hoho looked Ed over once more before noticing the red in the design and the two drops of blood on Ed's arm, leftover from the syringe.

"What did he do to you?"

Ed rubbed his arm as he explained what had happened as best he could. Once he finished, Hoho sighed and ruffled Ed's hair, a gesture that confused Ed for the moment.

"It sounds like you're going to have an interesting future."

"If we survive," Ed muttered.

Hoho sighed. "Yes, if we survive. Are you ready?"

Ed exchanged glances with Al, and they both nodded. Hoho smiled and led them out of the room and into a hallway. They were going to end the madness, once and for all.

---------------

It had been almost two weeks since Roy had last heard from Ed. Two weeks since the Fullmetal Alchemist had supposedly been transferred to another hospital, and Roy was worried.

He realized that Ed probably wouldn't be killed, but there were so many unanswered questions. What was Ed going through? Was he with his brother? Had Al been killed since he was too much of a threat to Father? Would anyone from that family ever be seen again?

He was jerked out of his reverie when General Hakuro flopped a giant pile of papers onto his desk. The general had recovered quickly, and he was now forcing Roy to do paperwork until they received orders from Father.

"Keep working, Mustang. Scar's little stunt caused a lot of problems in the military, and you're the one who gets to clean up the mess."

Roy sighed as he continued to sign papers and do calculations and such. After a few hours, Roy was about ready to kill someone, he was so bored and frustrated. So when the phone on his desk rang, he was more than happy to answer it.

"Mustang."

The voice on the other end seemed exhausted and relieved to have gotten a hold of Roy. "Colonel? That's you, right?" asked a very familiar voice that Roy easily recognized…

"Full- Ed? What- where are you? Are you okay?"

"Al and I are fine."

"Then where are you? We've all been worried about you…" Roy trailed off as Hakuro entered the office again and sat down at another desk.

"It's over." There was a click on the other side, and Roy knew that Ed had hung up. He stared at the phone for another moment before hanging up.

"It's over…?" Roy muttered to himself, trying to figure out what Ed had meant.

Hakuro looked over at Roy in confusion for a moment before shaking his head with a sigh.

"Did the Fullmetal Alchemist tell you that?"

Roy nodded, still trying to figure out what Ed had been talking about.

"Then I guess you've won," Hakuro continued.

"Eh?"

"We would have heard by now if something had happened in our favor. The only reason for the silence must be that all of Father's creations have been destroyed." Hakuro looked into Roy's eyes, and to Roy's surprise, the general smiled. "I suppose we'll have to make some changes around here. You're willing to help, correct?"

Roy blinked several times before nodding.

"Good. Let's change this country. There's not much of a point in continuing the conflicts for a plan that will no longer work, so we might as well make life better for those who live here."

Roy smiled and looked out the window. Even though his hopes of becoming Fuhrer were dashed, Roy knew that he was now fulfilling his goals. Things were finally working out for the best, and maybe, just maybe, Ed would return to pay back the 520 cenz he owed him.

--------------

One more chapter and it's finished! Next chapter will be the one to wrap up all the loose ends. :D


	23. Lost and Found

There was a knock on the door. Roy looked up from what he was doing and said, "Come in," and Riza entered the room, closing the door behind her.

"General Hakuro wants you to know that there's a meeting with ambassadors from Drachma next week. Friday at noon, in meeting room five."

"Right, thanks," Roy said, handing Riza a folder. "Would you mind giving these to him?"

"Not at all." Riza took the folder and headed for the door, but before she left, she turned and looked back at Mustang with a smile. "Oh, and you have a visitor."

Roy sighed. "Is it important?"

"It's someone you need to see."

"Very well, send whoever it is in."

Nearly four years had passed since Roy had received the phone call from Ed and gotten promoted to Major General, one rank above Hughes' rank after death. Ever since then, he, along with the newly appointed General Armstrong and Generals Hakuro and Grumman, as well as any other high-ranking officers, had been working on disbanding all terrorist groups and getting rid of corrupt officials.

Thankfully, the job hadn't been as hard as Roy had thought it would be, and they were now ready to make peace with the surrounding countries. However, nobody had heard from either of the Elric brothers since. Roy had faith that they were alive, but he'd given up on ever seeing either of them again.

He looked down at the stack of paperwork on his desk and pushed it aside for the moment. If he was going to have to talk with someone, he might as well pretend he was interested…

There was a knock on the door, and Roy said the usual, "Come in." The door slowly opened, and Roy stared in shock at the face that poked through the opening.

"Um… is this a bad time?"

Roy stared for a moment before Ed sighed and walked into the office, shutting the door behind him. "You don't have to act so surprised…"

"Where the hell were you?" Roy practically shouted, a grin spreading over his face.

"Um, all over the place, really. I had to go north for a while and get the message to Winry that it was safe for her to come back, and then we went back east to drop Pinako and Den off and pick up Al before heading to Xing to see off our friends. Then Winry and I went to Rush Valley for a while so that she could wrap some things up there and maybe get her job back. We're still waiting to hear about that."

"And all of this took four years to occur?"

Ed shook his head. "No, we did some other things, but that's the main idea."

"And you didn't think to contact me during that time."

"I did, but I didn't think it would be safe to get involved with the military for a while."

Roy sighed and stood up. "Well, if you're wondering, your files are now confidential and only a few select members of the military have access to them."

Ed paused, as if he wasn't expecting this. "Well… that's good, I guess…"

"And any rumors about you have been dispelled thanks to a few well-placed articles in different newspapers around the country."

"Um, okay…"

Roy paused. "But why are you choosing now to come back? Is there something wrong?"

Ed blinked. "What? No, nothing's wrong… I just came to give you something."

Roy raised an eyebrow. "You, giving me something? If that isn't a sign of the apocalypse, I don't know what is."

"Gee, Mustang, I didn't know you were religious," Ed replied sarcastically before handing Roy an envelope. Roy took it and looked at it curiously.

"If I didn't know better, I'd say this was some sort of invitation. Should I open it now?"

"If you want to, I guess…" Ed mumbled. He seemed slightly embarrassed.

Roy smirked and quickly opened the envelope. Inside was a card that said "You're Invited…" on the front. Roy opened it and quickly read it before smirking at Ed.

"Aw, how sweet. The childhood friends are getting married."

Ed blushed. "I'm glad you figured that much out," he muttered darkly, shifting his weight as he stood in front of the desk.

"Two and a half months from now? Are you in a rush, or are you just late in delivering this?"

"I'm not late! We made the decision about a month ago and we had to figure everything out and stuff."

"Why the rush, then?"

Ed was now a brilliant shade of red, and Roy wondered if any of the blood in his face would leak out of his pores. He quickly discarded that mental image, however, when Ed spoke again. "Well, Winry's sort of… pregnant."

Roy raised an eyebrow. "Wow, I never thought you had it in you."

"Oh, yeah? Like you could do better!" Ed snapped, somehow managing to be redder than before.

"As a matter of fact, Edward…" Roy trailed off as he heard a knocking on the door. He smirked at Ed once again before saying, "Come in."

-------------

Ed watched as the door opened, and Gracia and Elysia Hughes came into the room. Even though he realized that Elysia was at least nine years old now, he couldn't help but marvel at how much she had grown, and when she smiled shyly at Ed from behind her mother, he could tell she was Maes's daughter. That smile wasn't easily forgotten.

"Oh, I hope I'm not interrupting anything," Gracia said, smiling at the two men.

"Not at all," Roy replied. "We're just catching up on old times."

Gracia looked Ed over and smiled. "It's good to see you again, Edward."

Ed gave a small smile in return. "It's good to see you too."

Gracia turned to Elysia. "Do you remember Edward? I don't think you met him more than once or twice…"

Elysia smiled at Ed again. "You're Winry's friend, right? I remember meeting you." She walked up to him and looked up. "You're actually tall now, too. Not as tall as Daddy was, but I bet you're almost as tall as Mr. Mustang."

Ed felt his face go red again, and he smiled uncertainly at Elysia. "You think so?"

Elysia nodded. "Yep."

"So, what brings you here, Mrs. Hughes?" Roy asked.

"Oh, right." Gracia reached into her purse and held out an envelope. "The photographs finally got developed. Kyle and Liz look wonderful."

Ed blinked and looked at Roy. Who were Kyle and Liz?

Roy smiled. "Thank you very much. We really should get together more often."

"Yes, we should. We had a great time, didn't we, Elysia?"

Elysia nodded. "Yep."

"Well, we should go now and let you two continue your chat," Gracia said. "We'll see you later."

"Bye!" Elysia said, waving as she followed her mother out of the room. Ed waved back, and Roy did as well. When the door closed behind them, Roy sat down with a sigh, and gestured for Ed to sit down as well.

"Well, now, I suppose I'll just have to show you what I was about to say before," Roy said as he opened the envelopes and extracted a few photos. He looked each one over carefully before handing one over to Ed. Ed took it and gave Mustang a questioning look before turning his gaze to the photo in his hand.

There on the paper were four smiling faces. Two were ones he recognized; that of Mustang and Hawkeye, but two were new. He looked more closely at the two toddlers that sat on each of the adults' laps before realizing who they were.

"No way, you and Hawkeye…?"

Roy nodded smugly. "Yep. Kyle and Elizabeth. They're twins, and they'll be two and a half in a few days."

Ed smirked. "Wow, Mustang, I never thought you had it in you."

This time it was Roy's turn to blush, and Ed laughed. "Hey, you said it first. So, do you think you can make it to the wedding?"

Roy looked at the date on the invitation again. "I don't know, this is pretty short notice…"

"It's two and a half months! Not even you would have planned everything out that far ahead!"

Roy rolled his eyes. "Does the fact that I'm a Major General mean nothing to you, Edward?"

Ed stuck his tongue out. "Nope."

"Oh, by the way, I'll be needing your watch back. Since you haven't done an assessment in four years, you're no longer working for the state. Not to mention we're working on getting rid of the State Alchemist division…"

Ed blinked before reaching into his pocket and pulling out the silver watch. "If you're getting rid of that division, then why do you need this back?"

"Do you really want to keep it?" Roy asked.

Ed sighed and placed it on Roy's desk. "Nope. Oh, I also have an invitation for… um…"

"She still goes by Hawkeye, Ed. She's also not a soldier anymore. She simply works as a secretary when our full-time secretary calls in sick."

"So…"

"You can just call her Riza now."

Ed frowned. "But that seems weird…"

"I tell you what, why don't you come over for dinner tonight? That way you can give her the invitation yourself _and_ discuss any problems that have arisen from this conversation with her."

Ed paused. "Well… is it okay if I bring Winry, too?"

Roy smiled. "Of course it is."

"Okay, then. Except I don't know where you live…"

"You know how to get to the Hughes residence, don't you?"

"Yeah…"

"Our house is two blocks away. Same street, to the left if you're looking straight at the Hughes' home, and it's on the far corner. You cross two streets to get there, and… Just give me your hand."

"Why?"

"Do it."

Roy's tone of voice reminded Ed of all the times Roy just _had_ to have Ed follow an order, and he decided it would be a good idea to comply. Roy wrote a number down on the back of Ed's right hand and let go.

"That's the number on our house. If you still can't find it, then ask someone for directions. Most people know where we are."

Ed nodded. "Okay, what time?"

"Oh, around six. Maybe six-thirty, so that at least one of us is at home before you arrive."

"Okay, we'll be there around six-thirty."

"Great. Now get out. I have work to do."

Ed nodded and stood up. "Yeah, I'd better get out before you decide that I'm still your little slave and you make me do your work for you."

To Ed's surprise, Roy laughed. "No, I think those days are over. See you tonight."

"Yeah…" And with that, Ed made his way out of the office and began walking down the hall.

---------------

Ed turned the corner, feeling fairly pleased with himself. He had run into the two Armstrong siblings, and not only had he given Olivier an invitation, which Winry would be proud of him for, but he had also avoided getting hugged by her younger brother. He still hadn't lost his speed.

He was almost out of the building when he ran into someone else he recognized. Ed groaned inwardly as General Hakuro approached him, followed by an escort of two or three men. The General stopped right in front of Ed, blocking his path.

"Well now, this is a pleasant surprise."

Ed blinked. Pleasant? Since when was his presence one that Hakuro enjoyed? Ed stood there, trying to think of something to say, when Hakuro waved off his escort.

"I'd like to talk to you for a moment. Do you have time?"

Ed nodded, not wanting to make the older man angry. Most of his memories of Hakuro weren't exactly pleasant ones. Hakuro began walking down the hall again, and Ed walked with him until Hakuro led him into an office.

"Please, sit down," Hakuro said, gesturing to a chair in front of a small coffee table. Ed sat, and Hakuro sat across from him. It was quiet for a while.

"So…" Ed began. "What is it you wanted to talk about?"

"I wanted to apologize. I realize that I've done a lot to hurt you and your brother, and I know there's nothing I can do to change that now, but… I'm sorry. You didn't deserve to be treated so roughly."

"Um… okay…"

"Although, now that I think about it, your brother was treated worse by the higher-ups back then. You were dealt with directly by the homunculi."

Ed shuddered at the memories this conversation was causing him to recall. Even now, he had nightmares about Pride doing atrocious things to him with those shadows…

"Either way, I hope that none of the damage was permanent."

Ed shook his head. "Most of it wasn't, anyway…"

"Well, if it's any help at all, your actions helped me realize that an immortal army is a fool's dream. This country, and the people in it, deserve better than what they were going to get, and hopefully, thanks to what you did, they'll get it. I know I'd rather have my children grow up in a peaceful country."

Ed nodded. "That's what I want for…" he trailed off and felt embarrassed for a moment, but he continued. He was in his twenties now, after all… "That's what I want for my child, as well, when he or she comes into this world."

"Well, that may very well be a reality by the end of next year. Anyway, I've said what I want to say, so I won't keep you any longer." Hakuro gestured to the door. "It was good to see you."

Ed nodded and headed for the door. Once he was back in the hallway, he sighed. Too many memories…

---------------

"Ah, I'm so nervous about this…"

"Don't worry, Winry, it'll be fine. They're expecting us," Ed said for about the tenth time since leaving their hotel room.

"But what if they forgot?"

Ed sighed. Winry was really getting into a weird mood. Then again, it had been like that for at least a month or two now…

"Don't worry, they'll remember."

"But what if they don't?"

"Winry, even if they don't remember, how could they be upset at getting such a pleasant surprise as getting to see you again?" Ed said sweetly, wrapping an arm around Winry's waist as they walked up to the house.

"You mean it?" Winry asked, smiling hopefully at Ed as they walked up the front steps.

"Of course I do," Ed replied with a smile as he knocked on the door.

There was a loud noise from the other side, followed by a scolding voice that could only belong to Riza, and the door opened, revealing Kyle, Elizabeth, and a very frazzled Riza Hawkeye.

"Edward! Winry! You made it!" Riza smiled and grabbed the two wide-eyed children, one under each arm. The two squealed and giggled as they tried to get out of their mother's grasp. "Come on in!"

Ed let Winry go in first before following, and they followed Riza into the kitchen. Ed helped Winry sit down before watching as Riza let go of the twins. They stood and stared at Ed in awe.

"You two go play now, all right? And _don't_ break anything."

The two nodded semi-fearfully in response to their mother's command and quietly walked out of the room. Riza sighed and sat down.

"I don't know what to do with those two. Honestly, their father would probably let them get away with murder."

Ed laughed. "So, which one's which?"

"The dark-haired one is Elizabeth. She got some gum stuck in her hair, so we had to do a haircut, and she refuses to wear any of the clothing that makes her look even slightly feminine. The light-haired one is Kyle."

Ed smiled. "You won't be able to use Elizabeth as a codename anymore."

Riza smiled as well. "Nope, but somehow I get the feeling I won't need to have a codename anymore."

"It's funny, though," Winry remarked. "I always thought that Mr. Mustang would name any son he had after Mr. Hughes."

Riza smiled sadly at that. "He wanted to, but I managed to convince him that 'Maes Mustang' didn't sound very good. I don't know where he came up with Kyle, but I think it fits."

"It does," Winry agreed before adding, "But what about middle names?"

Riza laughed. "Sorry, but their father has banned me from telling you their middle names until he gets home. I get the feeling he wants to tell you himself. But what about you?" Riza asked, nodding at Winry.

Winry blushed. "Well, if it's a boy, we're naming him Alphonse. If it's a girl…"

"Sarah," Ed finished. Winry nodded.

"I see," Riza said with a smile. "So, how is Alphonse?"

"He's fine," Ed said. "He's helping Mei Chan work things out in the Chan clan. I think in a few years they'll probably get together or something."

Winry groaned. "If she's going to be your sister-in-law, Al had better warn me when she comes to visit. That way I can avoid the two of you."

Everyone except for Ed laughed, but they were interrupted by the sound of the front door opening and closing. Ed looked over and saw Roy walk up to them.

"So, I guess you beat me here," Roy remarked as he sat down next to Riza. "Did you give it to her yet?"

Ed frowned for a moment before realizing what Roy was talking about. "Oh! Yeah, not yet…" Ed pulled the invitation out of his pocket and handed it to Riza. "We didn't know you two were together, so we had two…"

Riza read the card and smiled. "I'm sure we'll be there," she said, looking over at Roy with a dangerous glint in her eyes.

"Ah, yes… most likely…"

------------------

They chatted for a while longer about the plans for the wedding before Roy gave Riza a meaningful glance. Riza caught his meaning immediately, and she stood up and looked over at Winry. "Care to help me get the twins ready for dinner, Winry?"

Winry nodded. "Sure," she replied, and the two women left, leaving Ed alone with Roy. Roy sighed and walked over to the kitchen counter.

"You want coffee? I think I need it after today…"

Ed shrugged. "Sure."

Roy started the coffee-making process before sitting back down, across the table from Ed. "You never said what happened."

Ed sighed. He knew this would come eventually, so he unbuttoned his black shirt and pulled the fabric aside, revealing the red and black marks that still covered much of his left side.

"That bastard did another experiment on me and injected more of the stone that was in my father into my body. It's different from the first time, but I probably used up half the lives from that when we were fighting against Father. Then I was knocked out, and when I woke up…" Ed sighed again and turned his gaze to the table. "Al had a deep gash running from his elbow to the bottom of his ear, and our father was nowhere to be seen. Al said that something had happened… and so neither Father nor our own father survived."

Roy nodded. "What then?" he asked as he poured coffee for the two and gave one cup to Ed. Ed drank some before putting the cup down.

"We ran into Mei Chan when we got to the surface, and she healed Al, but he has a scar now, so he decided to grow his hair out a bit and wear collared shirts from now on. I called you after Al was okay, mostly because I didn't want to have to tell you he was hurt. And then I would have said more on the phone, but someone else needed to use it, and I didn't think it would be safe to stay in Central…"

"I see. What will you do now?"

Ed shrugged. "We'll probably live in Resembool, maybe build a house where my old one was and live there, or stay at Winry's home. Either way, Winry's going to continue with the automail business, and I'll probably help people out with alchemy. I can also use rentanjutsu, so I'll probably end up helping Winry with patients. We might end up opening a clinic as well as the normal automail business."

"Wow, you've got it all planned out, don't you?"

Ed shrugged. "Not really… so what are their middle names?"

Roy looked up at the staircase, from the top of which could be heard the noises of two toddlers getting ready for dinner with some special guests. "Elizabeth Jane, and… Kyle's middle name comes from a friend that I lost a few years ago."

Ed nodded in understanding. _Hughes…_ "Elysia's definitely gotten bigger."

"So have you."

"Gee, thanks," Ed remarked sarcastically.

"It's true. I never thought you'd be close to my eye level, and yet here you are."

Ed sighed and leaned back in the chair. "Well, at least Winry won't have to deal with a husband who's shorter than her."

Roy laughed. "And you're even optimistic now! That's a good change."

Ed rolled his eyes. "You're starting to act like Hughes."

"You think so?"

"All that's missing is the stack of photos."

Roy sighed. "You know, we never really planned for this to happen. I never thought that we'd get the chance to live a peaceful life, get our own home, have children… After all we've done, we don't deserve to be this happy."

"But you're accomplishing your goals."

"So that the next generation doesn't have to live with the consequences of _our_ mistakes."

Ed sat up in his chair and rested his arms on the table. "Well, I think it's good that you have kids. They're a part of the next generation, and they'll always remind you of your goals."

Roy smiled. "That's what I thought as well, and that's why I'm accepting our new life. What about you, though? You're obviously bad at keeping in touch with old friends, so are you going to name your child after someone around here so you don't forget to call every once in a while?"

Ed shook his head and laughed. "Oh, hell no. We want a name that sounds good, you know."

"What's wrong with Roy?"

"Roy Elric? No, it just wouldn't work. Besides, I don't think Roy would fit with a blonde, and I get the feeling that the baby's going to have light hair."

"Since when do you care about names fitting someone's looks or sounding good?"

"Since Winry told me to."

"See? You're not even married and you're submitting. I thought you were stronger than that."

Ed was about to retort when Winry and Riza came back downstairs, each with one of the twins in hand. "I thought we could eat outside tonight," Riza said. "It's nice enough."

"Sure, that sounds good," Ed replied.

They went outside, and Ed smiled when he saw the sun setting over the houses. It was good to be back.

----------------

Winry and Riza were enjoying the moments they spent together in the kitchen, discussing the finer details for the wedding. To Riza's surprise, Ed had made some very good plans. It sounded like it was going to be a wonderful day.

After a while, they went into the living room. The men and the kids were being conspicuously quiet. Riza and Winry stood in the doorway and both let out a resigned sigh when they saw what was in the living room.

Ed and Roy were sprawled out on the ground, each with one of the twins sleeping on them. Elizabeth was lying on her father's chest, and Kyle was draped over Ed's chest, his limbs spread in all directions and his hand in Ed's face.

"For some reason, I get the feeling Kyle's going to be a lot like his pillow," Riza said with a sigh.

Winry laughed. "Well, maybe that won't be so bad…"

Riza grabbed a couple of blankets from the couch and gently draped them over each pair. "Well, if they want to sleep on the floor, then they can sleep on the floor. Just don't expect me to give them sympathy when they wake up sore."

"Now why would I do that?" Winry asked, a smirk on her face. "Oh, and do you have a marker?"

---------------

Ed woke up early the next morning to the sound of giggling. He groaned and looked up to see Kyle and Liz standing right above him and staring at his face. Ed sat up and rubbed his head.

"What are you guys looking at?" Ed asked sleepily.

"You got whiskers!"

Ed stopped rubbing his head. "Come again?"

"Whiskers! Whiskers!"

Ed somehow managed to get to his feet and looked at his reflection in the mirror. Somehow, he had whiskers on his face. Drawn with what appeared to be permanent ink.

"Well, damn," came a voice from right behind Ed. Ed saw Roy standing behind him in the mirror and turned around.

"They got you too, huh?"

"No, not the twins. Someone else."

Ed could hear stifled laughter from the kitchen. "I see…" he muttered darkly.

"Eh, we'll let them enjoy their triumph. For now."

Ed raised an eyebrow. "Okay…"

"Besides, I already tried getting this off. I couldn't do it."

Ed sighed. "Oh well…"

Roy gave Ed a pat on the shoulder before walking through the kitchen and going out the back door. Ed rubbed at his face some before following, giving Winry a death glare as he passed by. Winry just smiled innocently as Ed went outside.

The sun was about to rise, and the sky was a rainbow of colors as the light hit the clouds on the horizon. Ed sat down next to Roy and watched as the sun rose above the houses in the area.

"What about the homunculi?" Roy asked.

Ed shook his head. "I wasn't there when it happened, but I've heard that Greed is the only one left."

"Greed? As in the one in Ling's body?"

Ed nodded. "Yeah, somehow the two agreed to work together, and Ling might be the new emperor of Xing."

"Is that so?"

Ed nodded. "You can ask Al about it sometime. He probably knows better than I do, since he's living there and all…"

"Speaking of which, how did you not know Riza and I were together? There was an article about it in just about every newspaper in the country. For some reason, we're now celebrities."

Ed shrugged. "We don't really get much news in Resembool. You know that."

"Al knew."

"Huh?"

Roy handed Ed an envelope, and sure enough, it was addressed to Roy, and Ed couldn't mistake his brother's handwriting. It was definitely a note of congratulations.

"Even people in Xing know about it," Roy said with a smirk.

"Eh, it's not worth reading the news. I figure if there's something important going on, I'll figure it out without having to read the paper."

Roy sighed. "You just don't care, do you?"

"Exactly."

Just then, Kyle ran through the kitchen and outside, laughing hysterically and only in his birthday suit. Seconds later, Riza's voice came from inside. "Kyle Edward Mustang, you get back here RIGHT NOW!"

Ed froze. Not only had Riza's scary voice returned at an unexpected time, but the name she had used… _A friend that I lost a few years ago._ Ed looked over at Roy, who smiled in embarrassment and ruffled Ed's hair with his right hand.

"I guess you're not lost anymore, right?" Roy asked.

Ed smiled, blinking back tears that seemed to come out of nowhere. "No, I'm not lost anymore. I'm exactly where I want to be."

Kyle paused for a moment and looked over at the two men. Then he smiled and ran off again. Ed looked up to see Winry standing beside him. She placed her hands on her stomach and smiled down at Ed. Ed smiled back and turned back to look at the sunrise. There really wasn't anything better than this moment. For the first time in ten years, Ed finally felt like his life would have a happy ending.

---------------

Yes, it seems rather cheesy to me, but the idea of Ed coming in a few years later and all this happening was what inspired me to keep going at some point in time, so you should be grateful! Without this chapter, I would definitely not have gotten updates and stuff as quickly because I wouldn't have been as inspired to keep going with it.

Also, isn't the last scene just priceless? It's this beautiful moment, and yet Ed and Roy both have cat whiskers and there's a nude child in the backyard. XD

And aw, it's over. D: I'm gonna miss writing this fic… oh well, that's what a possible new story is for, I'm gonna mix up stuff from my different fanfics, stuff that I wanna do but that wouldn't fit into any of the stories I've already put up, and most of it will be Forsaken Memories!Ed and Al visiting places they were at in the crossover fics and such, and possibly I'm Sorry!Ed and Al going through the Forsaken Memories timeline, and other random things like that.

So yeah, keep an eye out for that, it'll be good times. :D


	24. kinda unrelated announcement thingy

So…

If anyone cares, I'm writing another story that kinda deals with Separated and Forsaken Memories, it's more for the organization from Separated, so yeah…

Dunno when it'll be up or anything, but it might explain a few things… might not… depends on what happens when I'm writing it…


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